A Scorpion By Any Other Name
by Tenchi Moete
Summary: What's in a name? Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley are the Head boy and girl at Hogwarts. Even though they're in opposite houses, they're extremely alike. Can they look past their family's past? Or are they destined to go through life hating each other?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Characters in this story, except...the ones I made up of course lol. Most of the characters and ideas of this story belong entirely to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: This is like...the first story I've written in like soooo long. I hope you like it. If you get confused, just read the last chapter of Deathly Hallows. It's a story all about Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Draco's Kids.

A Scorpion by Any Other Name

Prologue

It was eleven o'clock of the first day of September and it was also the first time that Rose Weasley had ever been on the Hogwarts school train. She had just said goodbye to her parents on platform 9 and 3/4 and was now in the process of finding a compartment. A process that was so far very...unsuccessful. Of course she could always find her cousin Al and sit with him, but, she had just spent most of the summer with him and was to be frank, quite sick of his constant worrying. All throughout the summer, Rose had to listen to "Oh, what if I'm a Slytherin...uncle Ron will never talk to me again..." or "what if I'm rubbish at Defence Against the Dark Arts? My Dad would be so disappointed..." etc. She had always told Al to shut up, not to worry, and remember that his father was Harry Potter and so he couldn't be rubbish at anything. She seemed confident on the outside but inside, she was just as worried (if not more so) than her cousin. How was she to live up to her mother? She was after all the only witch in a century to receive an 'O' in every single NEWT that she took, and she didn't even go to school in her seventh year!

Finally finding an empty compartment, she reached forward to open the door and met another hand on the handle. Rose looked over to find herself gazing directly into two blue eyes. They was a different blue than most people's eyes: instead of a bright calm blue, these eyes were a mix of several shades, including grey, which made them seem like the sea during a particularly vicious windstorm. After Rose managed to get past the eyes, she looked at the rest of the person's face. It was a boy her own age with white-blond hair that fell to the length of the pale pointed chin.

"Hello," said the boy, looking at Rose's feet, "would you mind if I shared this compartment with you? The rest of the train is all full."

"Sure" said Rose, opening the door for the boy, "I'm Rose Weasley, how do you do?" and she extended her hand for a handshake. The boys eyes widened slightly then he shook her hand rather timidly and said in a barely audible tone, "I'm...Scorpius...Malfoy."

Scorpius Malfoy was scared out of his wits at the moment. He was an extremely introverted person and he normally didn't talk to people his own age. His parents were very rich and so all the things he wanted or needed were inside the confines of his personal library. In fact the sentence he had spoken to this Rose girl was the longest he had ever spoken to someone under the age of 30. Scorpius was now looking down at the hem of his robes occasionally glancing up at the girl. She had now pulled out a book, so Scorpius could only see half of her big brown eyes that reminded him of his pet doberman puppy, Oberon, that he was forced to leave at home. She had a pretty face, but it was overshadowed by a great mass of auburn curly hair that framed it. Scorpius didn't understand why, but something about the girl calmed him, so he decided to take a stab at conversation.

"So..." he said pointing at the book that was hidden behind her raised knees, "what are you reading?" She held up the book and Scorpius gasped.

"Merlin's underpants! That's the new book in the 'Transfigured Feelings Romance Series! How did you get that? I...*ahem*...my...um...Mother looked all over for that."

Rose looked suspiciously at the boy across from her. "How..."

"Anything from the trolley dears?" said the witch with the food cart. After they had all had their fill of chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, Rose could tell that Scorpius was visibly relaxing, but he also looked like he had to go to the loo or something. His right foot was jiggling and he kept looking side to side. He finally bursted out and exclaimed "OK! I read the 'Transfigured Emotions' Series! Not my mother! I think that Harriet L. Felixa is the best romance novelist ever! Bollocks! Now you think I'm weird, because I read Romance novels, right? Oh please don't tell anyone!" Rose broke into a smile,

"Of course not! I think that it's really cool. I wonder what else we have in common?" and they proceeded to talk until nightfall about their love of books and other fascinating things.

After they had gone to the restrooms on the train and changed into their school uniforms, the realization seemed to hit Rose like a brick wall. She had been so deep into her conversation with Scorpius, that she had totally forgot where she was going. They were only minutes away from reaching Hogwarts and that meant Sorting... "Oh Scorpius I'm so nervous. What if I end up in Hufflepuff...or worse...Slytherin?"

Scorpius paled when she said this. Not wanting to draw suspicion he said "why...is there a specific house that you want to be in?" Rose nodded,

"My entire family was sorted into Gryffindor, and my Dad absolutely hates Slytherin. There was a boy in his year who treated my mother so horribly...they told me that..." her voice dropped to a whisper, "he used to call her Mudblood." Scorpius' face paled even more.

"that's... horrible." he said.

"Yeah," said Rose, "So he's never forgiven him, even after the war. He still holds a grudge towards Slytherin because of it. What house do you want to be in?"

Scorpius had always assumed that he would be in Slytherin, but now that he thought of it, he wasn't so sure. He thought of the brave heroes from the romantic stories he treasured so dearly, fighting off ghouls and vampires to save the woman he loved...then he thought of Rose. She was the only real friend he had ever had. "Gryffindor," he said with conviction, "Although I'm not sure that I'm cut out for it..." He shivered as he imagined what his father would think hearing what his son had just said.

"That's awesome! I really hope you're with me...you're the first friend I've gotten at school, and I hope we stay friends forever! Pinky promise?" Rose exclaimed as she held out her hand, pinky outstretched. When Scorpius raised an eyebrow and gave her a 'what the bloody hell is this' look she explained that it was a muggle thing that her mother had taught her. "It's the biggest most serious promise that you can make in the muggle world," said Rose, "it's like an unbreakable vow, but you don't die if you break it." Scorpius looked at the finger dubiously, and he reached out and touched hers, she wrapped it around his and he said

"ok, pinky promise."

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In a blink of an eye, they were off of the train and rushed out onto the platform. Scorpius heard a booming voice call from ahead "Firs' years! Over here! Firs' years, this way!" The voice seemed to be coming from what seemed to be like an...outhouse or a small shack next to the platform, but then it moved and became a person! It was a gigantic man whose long shaggy beard was striped with long patches of grey. He looked over towards him, nodded knowingly and said "All righ' there mister Malfoy?" Rose ran up and hugged the monstrous man's leg,

"Hi uncle Hagrid! How do you know Scorpius?"

"I don'" said Hagrid gruffly, "I could tell by his face whose son he was, thas' all. Where's your cousin? Al!"

"I'm over here Uncle Hagrid!" yelled a boy's voice from not far behind them.

"Alrigh' then firs' years! Follow me!" boomed Hagrid, and in a smaller voice he added, "you two wanna ride with me?" and with that, a fleet of small rowboats sped across the great black mirror that was the Hogwarts' lake.

Rose gasped. Having lived in a small two bedroom house in the country her entire life, the sight before her was astonishing. It's not like her family was poor, they just liked to live non extravagantly. Rose's father had lived in the country most of his life, and he wanted to give the same experience to his children. She had never seen anything like the Hogwarts castle, it was so beautiful in the moonlight.

"Isn't it beautiful Scorpius?" she asked.

Scorpius, who had lived in a large manor since birth was not as impressed as Rose was, but still found a strange warmth to the large stone edifice that lay across the countryside in front of him.

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The ride on the boats was way too short for Rose's liking. The anxiety that she had inherited from her mother was now starting to really bug her. To make matters worse, they had been sorted into alphabetical order, meaning that nine letters separated her and Scorpius. Their conversations on the train had made her forget about her worries, and she longed to be back where she was 3 hours ago.

The first years filed into the great hall of Hogwarts and the rest of the student body clapped as they entered. Scorpius was so nervous that he had started to chew on his fingernails, a habit his father had beat out of him when he was 4, but occasionally showed up when he was going through things that were extremely emotional for him.

He could see the line getting shorter in front of him as he walked closer and closer to his destiny, to become a Slytherin as his ancestors before him. Professor Brooks, who had replaced Professor MacGonagall as Head of Gryffindor house when she had become Headmistress, was reading names off of the parchment, and the hat chose which house they belonged to as it went. "Bones, Eric!" RAVENCLAW!...time passed so quickly... "Lindsey, Marcus!" HUFFLEPUFF!...Scorpius could feel his breathing quicken... "Lumley, Lacey!" RAVENCLAW!...then he heard it, "Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Scorpius moved forward, sat on the stool and placed the old tattered hat atop his blond locks that had been toussled by the wind outside on the boat ride.

"Hmmm" said a voice in Scorpius' head, "You've got quite a head on your shoulders young man, Ravenclaw would do good but wait...oh the ambition! It is buried deep within, but it is there!" Scorpius was disappointed, he knew what was coming, he had known his whole life. "SLYTHERIN!" bellowed the hat, and the far table cheered loudly.

"No!" gasped Rose as she watched her one and only friend travel across the hall to join the people who her father despised so much. Scorpius looked back at her with a pained look on his face as if to say sorry somehow. Rose walked forward in a trance-like state as she watched her cousin get sorted into Gryffindor as soon as the hat touched his head. As Al walked to the cheering Gryffindor table she mouthed the words "I told you so." Then she was at the front of the line.

Rose placed the hat on her head. It thought for a moment, told her how bright she was and how well she would do if she was placed in Ravenclaw house, but then the hat changed its mind and yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Scorpius watched Rose walk across to the farthest point of the hall from him. He waved sadly as she sat down and she waved back with the same look on her face. He was sad that she was far away but then suddenly a glimmer of hope began to nestle in his mind, they can still be friends! They can work it out and perhaps be the ones to stop the feud between their two families.

On the other side of the hall, Al was gabbing to Rose, his brother James, and their cousin Fred about how he'd known all along that he would be sorted in Gryffindor.

"Where did you go on the train Rose?" he said after his gloating session, "I saved a seat for you the whole way in my compartment."

"Well..." said Rose, "I met a boy on the train, we have so much in common, he's so intelligent...and well he's just so nice!"

"Really?" asked Al genuinely interested, "what's his name?" but before Rose could answer, she was interrupted by the magically amplified clearing of a throat. The headmaster had begun his beginning of the year speech.

"Good evening to all of you!" Rose looked up at the Headmaster and was surprised. He was a fairly young man, only in his 40s by the look of him. He had shoulder length black hair and his robes were dark red, which matched the square spectacles that perched on the end of his nose.

"My name is Professor Dumas, and I am the new Headmaster of this school. I was in the ministry of magic for 10 years after school in my native country of Canada, then I became their Minister for Magic." Excited murmurs began to fill the great hall, but the Headmaster continued as if it hadn't even happened. In fact he was telling his extraordinary background in the same tone of voice one would use to discuss the weather. "But after 10 years of this work, I resigned, and decided to work in what I believe is my true calling, teaching. I looked everywhere for a job for about 3 years, then finally I heard that your esteemed headmistress, Professor Minerva MacGonagall was indeed retiring and I applied for the job. Many applied but in the end..." he trailed off and looked out of the window. Every student turned to look to see what he was looking at and the hall was completely silent. This went on for about a minute or so, then Hagrid cleared his throat and Dumas seemed to snap out of his trance. "I got the post! So here I am, let's eat!"

The tables were suddenly filled with a magnificent feast. "Real space case that Dumas is" remarked Fred Jr. between large bites of chicken. "It's going to be a real change from MacGonagall, like night from day really."

"So who was the boy you sat with on the train? Is he in Ravenclaw or something?" inquired Al,

"No..." said Rose carefully, "he's in Slytherin." James narrowed his eyes,

"Don't like him already."

"Oh come off it James," said Fred, picking up his flagon of pumpkin juice, "Slytherins can't be that bad, I mean Severus Snape was a Slytherin and you always hear how your Dad's going on about him. What's this kid's name Rose?"

"Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy." The pumpkin juice that James had just ingested was forcefully ejected from his mouth in shock.

"Malfoy?" roared James, "You are not to talk to that boy every again Rose, do you understand?" Rose was confused,

"Why not? I like him a lot and who are you to tell me who to hang out with?"

"Let me explain something to you Rose," started James with a grim look on his face, "you know that your father despises Slytherin? It was all because of one boy from their school years. He called your mother a mudblood on many occasions."

"I know that!" said Rose impatiently, "but what does this have to do with Scorpius?" James gave Rose an incredulous look,

"It has everything to do with him! Anyways, that boy that your father talks about was a death eater too, and he tried to kill your namesake Al, Professor Dumbledore. The boy's...I guess man now... name was...well is...Draco Malfoy!"

"But..." stammered Rose, "it could just be a coincidence...I'm sure there are lots of Malfoys around..."

"No way." said James, "that is Draco Malfoy's son. He's like his bloody clone for God's sake."

"But he didn't even tell me!"exclaimed Rose in a panicked voice. "I was talking about his father, and he didn't say a word...why wouldn't he? He said he'd be my friend...do friends lie to each other? He said he wanted to be in Gryffindor with me...was that a lie too?"

"Just don't even deal with that trash. You know I think of you as my little sister Rose, I love you just as much as Lily, so listen to me." said James seriously, "I think...he would have hurt you, it would be the thing that he would do, to make his Daddy proud. He would run home and brag that he'd made a Weasley cry."

"I'm really sorry Rose" said Al sadly, "and you really liked him too..."

Just as Al finished his sentence the sounds of scraping chairs began to echo through the hall. Prefects were yelling across the noise, directing students to their dormitories. In all the mess of people shuffling to their respective staircases, Scorpius managed to slip across the entrance hall to talk to Rose. He called her name and she turned, but there was no smile on her face. There were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

But she did not answer. Looking as though she might desolve into tears at any minute, she ran up the marble staircase with the other Gryffindors.

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The next day, Rose was eating breakfast when the mail came in. She was surprised to receive a letter. But who would be writing to her? Her mother wouldn't until to tomorrow to find out how classes had went so who was it? She opened it in a hurry:

Rose,

Wanna meet in the entrance hall at lunch? I'm sorry about being a Slytherin...I hope that's not why you were upset last night. We can go for a walk outside...if you think that'll cheer you up,

Your friend,

Scorpius

Rose's stomach flipped. She didn't know what to do. On one hand, he was her friend and she should give him a second chance to explain himself but on the other hand, this could just be a ploy to humiliate her...after much deliberation, Rose decided that she would at least go to see what he had to say, nothing to do of course with the fact that she missed having a friend who was on the same intellectual level as her.

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Scorpius was counting down the seconds until lunchtime. He looked at the clock, seconds till 11:45. 5...4...3...2...1! He jumped from his desk and ran down to the great hall (which was just down the hall of his charms classroom) where he took a few sandwiches and scarfed them down as fast as he could. He looked to the Gryffindor table to see that Rose was not there yet, which was understandable considering it was only one minute into lunchtime! He was so excited he went and waited in the entrance hall a full ten minutes early.

Scorpius had never had a real friend, and if all friends were as nice as Rose, he wondered why he had never had one before. At 11:55, he started to get a bit nervous, he kept peeking into the great hall to see if anyone was coming his way. Someone was, but it wasn't a girl. It was an older boy with black hair and he seemed to be headed straight for where Scorpius was standing.

"What are you doing kid? You've been watching the Gryffindor table for about 5 minutes now." demanded the boy, "Are you looking for Rose?",

"...Who are you?" asked Scorpius shakily, considering the boy was a foot taller than him, he didn't want to create any trouble.

"I'm James Potter, Rose's cousin. Now you listen up kid, because I'm going to say something to you once, and only once. Rose does not want to know you. She wants nothing to do with your kind. In fact, she hates you because you're a Slytherin. She knows about your stuffy, mean, pureblood, death eater family and she knows what your father did to her parents. She's not coming to see you, if that's what you're waiting for. So don't waste anymore precious moments you could be spending insulting muggle-borns in your dungeon."

Scorpius was speechless. He had come from the highest high, free as a bird about to have a walk with his first friend, but now he was shot down from the sky. Why had he ever thought that he could be friends with a Weasley? His father had told him all about them and the Potters of course, and how he shouldn't be fraternizing with wizards of that calibre. He had really liked someone for once, and his stupid heritage and family had to mess it up. She hated him, because of his family? Weren't true friends supposed to look over things like that? Weren't friends supposed to treat them for who _they_ are and not their parents? He hated being a Malfoy. He hated the way his father was and the way he treated muggle born wizards. At this moment, Scorpius hated life.

"Fine," said Scorpius coolly, and he went down to the cold Slytherin common room to spend the rest of the lunch hour absorbed in a book, fighting back tears.

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Rose looked at the clock as she ran up the stairs and read 11:59. "Good" she said aloud, "I'm not late yet!" She had stayed behind to ask the potions professor a few questions and hadn't kept track of the time. After being stuck behind a greasy haired boy who picked his nose all period her walk with Scorpius could not come fast enough. She truly missed him company and couldn't wait to share what she had learned in her morning classes. To think! Someone her age to discuss Potions Theory with!

She arrived in the entrance hall at 12:00 sharp and saw that no one was there. Thinking perhaps he was held up somewhere as well, she sat down on the floor and took out a book and began to read. The time passed and Rose's stomach began to rumble. She looked up at the clock and was shocked to find that it read 12:30. Rose's spirits fell as she gave up hope. He wasn't going to come.

Why invite her somewhere and not show? "He would have hurt you..." James' voice echoed in her head. "I should have listened to him" she said sadly to herself. "I should have known that I could never be friends with a Slytherin."

A/N...Well there's the prologue. Have you gotten the reference for the title yet? It's from a famous line in Shakespeare's _Romeo and Juliet._ The full quotation is "A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet." I was toying with the idea of doing a Rose by any other name as the title, but the story's more about Scorpius' name and the problems that are attached with Malfoy. The first chapter should be up soon...please R & R


	2. Pasts, Presents, and Near Futures

A/N Wow! Thanks for all of the reviews guys. Getting reviews makes me want to write more...Hopefully I'll be able to get a couple more chapters out before I move into residence. To answer the Review left by ME, what might of confused you at the beginning of the story was the dialogue in the first paragraph is that of Albus Potter, not Rose. So it was him talking about his uncle Ron, not Rose. Well here's chapter one, enjoy!

Chapter One: Pasts, Presents, and Near Futures

It was 6 AM and Draco Malfoy was sitting in the window seat of his bedroom watching the rays of the last August sunrise peek over a distant hill. The room was silent except for the quiet breathing of his wife Jane as she slept. The only part of her that could be seen was the top of her straight mousy brown hair peeking out from under the covers. Draco thought back to the circumstances of their marriage 18 years ago.

Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, had been spared Azkaban after the war, due to the fact that his wife Narcissa had aided Harry Potter in the Forbidden Forest before the Dark Lord had perished. Even though this had happened, all of the former glory the name Malfoyhad held was now rubbish. So despite escaping the infamous wizard prison, Lucius he had made his manor into a sort of prison. The name was tarnished forever, and it was killing Lucius. 7 years after the war, Draco had received a letter from his father beckoning him to visit him at his deathbed.

Draco, working at the time as an ambassador to the German ministry of magic, had taken the long trip to the Malfoy mansion to find the shell of the man who was once his proud father. Draco could barely look at him. Seeing a Malfoy, especially his father, in such a state was a travesty.

"Draco my son," said Lucious croakily, "you must...heal the family name of Malfoy. We must enter into society again...it is up to you. You must..." Lucius looked as though the next words he were about to utter physically pained him, "you must marry a blood traitor Draco."

"What?" exclaimed Draco, "but that's exactly opposite of what you've raised me my entire life! Do you truly think that this will save our name?"

"Yes," confirmed Lucius, "It will. It is you that will bring us out of the darkness and back into the light. You will make people yet again revere the Malfoys as they have for centuries. I have been in correspondence with the Greengrass family, and they have agreed to make a match with you and their daughter Astoria. At first they were a bit uneasy with the agreement, but, my insistence and promise of quite a hefty bride price changed their minds."

"Father, are you sure that this is what you want? Truly?" asked Draco with concern

"Draco, there are times when you have to do the worst thing you can think of for the greater good. I can assure you that you will grow to...tolerate her in time...even if she is a muggle lover." said Lucius, with an obvious undertone of distain.

Three days later, Lucius Malfoy had passed away, his wife Narcissa following him a week later due to heartbreak of the loss of her beloved. Draco had met Jane, and discovered that the reason he had never seen or heard of her in his life was because she was two years younger than him and had been in Ravenclaw. Nevertheless, he married her, moved into Malfoy mansion, and a year later she gave birth to a son, Scorpius.

Living with Astoria was difficult, but he made it work for the sake of his family's image, and for his father. On the outside, the Malfoys seemed to be a perfectly well adjusted family. On the inside, there were quite a few disagreements. Astoria was very fond of muggle clothes and often went shopping in the muggle side of London. This caused Draco to become very angry and they would often have screaming matches in the living room while Scorpius cried due to the noise.

Draco and Astoria refused to change the way they were brought up for each other. Over the past 18 years of marriage, they had grown to have the kind of partnership you might expect from two CEOs of a large company. They made it work for the sake of the name and for the sake of their son. Over time Astoria, being extremely bright, managed the Malfoy's fortune extremely well, and the name began to have some of the weight it had bore before the war.

Both of them were extremely stubborn, they refused to let go of their views about muggle-borns and the type of education they should be receiving. The only time they agreed about anything was about the raising of their child. They both loved the child dearly. The only time Draco had disciplined his child was to stop him from chewing his wretched fingernails. "It shows weakness!" he had told him.

Although the boy looked almost exactly like his father, he had the personality of his mother. He was quiet boy, not very social. He enjoyed reading above all else, and so for his 7th birthday, they had given him his very own library. His mother was certain that the boy would be placed in Ravenclaw as she herself had, but Draco knew that this would never happen. No matter how many books his son read, he was a Malfoy and no Malfoy would be in any other house besides Slytherin.

As the sun fully cleared its obstruction of the hill on the horizon, Draco remembered his son waving as he got on the Hogwarts train for the first time six years ago. It was the last time that his son had said "Love you" to his father.

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Exactly one floor down from where Draco was, sat a young man, who enjoyed watching sunrises just as much as him. Scorpius had the same pointed face as his father, and was only about a fraction of an inch taller than him, but that was where the similarities ended. Ever since Scorpius had left for his first year of Hogwarts, he had been trying to separate himself from his father's image.

He had the same shoulder length white-blond hair as his father, but he had used muggle hair dye to put black streaks into it even though he could have easily used magic to do so. He had also given himself an eyebrow piercing non-magically. Scorpius had turned 17 this past April, but he did many things non-magically just to annoy his father.

Scorpius looked around his bedroom, which was now bathed in the early morning sunlight. Several posters of his favourite bands covered the walls, and others were already rolled up on the floor to bring to school next to his dog's bed. The unmoving faces of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles smiled down on him, making him smile in return. Just having these posters in his house angered his father, let alone the fact that his son knew every word of Stairway to Heaven.

In a normal teenaged boy's room, you might expect to find pictures of friends or of a girlfriend, but Scorpius had none of that. He was a self-proclaimed loner, which made him annoyingly the object of many girls' desires. He was tall and handsome, and the extra edge of angst was enough to drive them wild. All of the rest of the Slytherin boys disliked him because his marks were always the highest and he always talked to them in such a patronizing tone. Because of his high marks and loner streak, it would seem that he would be an easy target for insults but his family name kept the resident Slytherin bully, Graham Goyle, away from him.

Yes, Scorpius Malfoy enjoyed his silence and loneliness. He had convinced himself that the only friends he would ever need were his books. He had grown very bitter and sarcastic throughout his years at Hogwarts, having the temperament of someone twice his age. He had been told a few times by Professor Longbottom that his sense of humour was not unlike a Professor Snape who had once been head of Slytherin house.

Scorpius had gotten an owl in June telling him that he had been named Head Boy. It didn't surprise him in the slightest...all he did was homework. His mind began to drift and wonder who was Head Girl...but he was interrupted by the hoot of an owl that had just arrived with a letter. He slid off his windowsill to let the owl perch there and he took the piece of parchment from its leg.

The letter had TOP SECRET written upon it and it's wax seal had the letters F&B. Upon seeing this, Scorpius tore it open in excitement.

Dear Mister Malfoy,

We would like to thank you for your donation to our book store, it was most generous. In return, the top secret information you've requested is as follows. We trust you will not share this with anyone. The new 'Transfigured Hearts' novel will be dropped off at the back entrance of our Diagon Alley location by Ms. Felixa herself at 8:30 this morning.

Sincerely,

Flourish & Blotts Inc.

Excellent! He had been waiting for this letter all summer! He reread the letter twice to make sure, then burned it with his wand. He went over to his potions bookshelf and muttered "Obladi, Oblada" and the green tomes upon the shelf all turned into different shades of pink and purple. To any other person who didn't know the password, every one Scorpius' romance novels would appear to be just another textbook. Always being very advanced in his studies, he had discovered how to do this in his first year, and had hidden his secret passion from his peers this way ever since. He had to hide him...what would they think if they knew? Mean, sarcastic, brilliant Scorpius Malfoy, reads trashy romance novels that about 90 percent of the female population of Hogwarts is obsessed with at the moment? The only person who knew his secret was Rose Weasley...

He clenched his fists as a reflex. Just thinking about her infuriated him. Ever since first years that had become rivals. She was the only person in their year who could match his marks. Before fifth year they had only been rivals, nothing more. But after fifth year...he still felt a numb ache of anger when he thought of their OWL examinations two years earlier...

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All of the fifth year students were writing their theory of transfiguration exam, and Scorpius knew every single answer on the test, and he had left himself just enough time to write the last answer on his exam paper when he was interrupted by the girl in front of him. She had leaned her head back to take a steadying breath, and her long auburn ringlets had landed upon his paper, making him unable to write. She seemed to be very nervous, because she stayed there for a full minute, taking deep breaths. Too shy to say anything, not knowing who the girl was, and finding it weird to touch someone else's hair, Scorpius just sat there waiting for her to move.

She had very beautiful hair...even though it was stopping him from finishing his test. It looked like red silk, shining from the sunlight that came through the high windows of the great hall. It smelled good too...like vanilla. The girl sat up suddenly, and wrote the last few lines on her paper. Scorpius was disappointed, the smell of her hair was quite calming...then a bell rang.

"Accio quills! Accio exams!" yelled the examination witch at the head of the great hall as everyone's quills and exams shot from their hands and desks.

"Noooo!" gasped Scorpius as he saw his unfinished exam paper fly across the room, to him as if in slow motion. He hadn't finished the last question! It was all that girl's fault! Getting her bloody hair all over his desk...oh she was going to get a talking to, that's for sure.

Scorpius followed the girl out to the entrance hall, rehearsing all the horrible insults that he would spew at the girl in his head. He grabbed her shoulder from behind and spun her around. There, standing only inches away from him, was Rose Weasley.

"Oh...it's you." was all Scorpius managed to get out of his mouth as he looked into her warm brown eyes. Suddenly the eyes became hard.

"What do you want Malfoy? Do you want to brag about how well you did on that exam? Well I'm sure the whole school will hear about it next year." She said coldly, and as she turned to go she yelled over her shoulder so that the whole entrance hall could hear her, "So please excuse me Mister Malfoy, but I have to go spend time with my _friends._ Something that _you _wouldn't understand!"

Those comments had hurt of course, but Scorpius had heard things like that so often, he didn't even really care. The true insult had came a month later when his OWL results came in the mail. He had received an 'O' in every single subject except for Transfiguration. He looked at the small letter 'E' on the parchment and he was so angry he had burned the paper in his hand without muttering a single word.

An 'E'! He couldn't believe it. Scorpius Malfoy did not receive 'E' grades. Of course Professor Brooks would let him be in his NEWT class next year, but that wasn't the point. That GIRL had stopped him from his perfect report card.

From that point on, Scorpius Malfoy despised Rose Weasley. Like some Siren, she had spread her fiery locks upon his desk and entranced him into failure. He had despised her for her good grades, but after the first day of sixth year, Scorpius could only describe his feelings for her as complete and utter loathing.

Even though Scorpius had gotten the one 'E' on his OWLs, he was certain that he would still be praised by his teachers that year for his amazing performance. An 'O' grade in five classes was nothing to sneeze at. But, no one seemed to care about him. All the news was about a Gryffindor witch who had received an 'O' in every single class that she had taken. That witch, was Rose Weasley.

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Scorpius took a deep breath and started his packing for the next day. He had all of his school things bought already, he just had to buy his textbooks, and he'd do that today, after he got his autographed copy of the new 'Transfigured Hearts' novel of course. "I guess being a Malfoy sometimes can't be all that bad..." he begrudgingly admitted.

Two hours later, after combing his hair and putting on his favourite pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, Scorpius walked down the stairs to eat breakfast before he departed. His mother and father were sitting at the table, already fully dressed in their robes...even though it was Sunday. Scorpius gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter and went out to the garden to apparate to Diagon Alley.

"Scorpius," said his father's drawling voice, leaning on the door frame of the back door, "Where are you going?"

"None of your business." said Scorpius curtly. Draco looked into the kitchen to see if his wife was done breakfast yet, he looked back and Scorpius was gone.

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It was 8:15 AM and Hermione Weasley was sitting in her kitchen finishing her cup of coffee when she heard her daughter Rose scream from upstairs.

"Bloody hell! I'm going to be late!"

The screaming was followed by the sound of several stomps travelling back and forth on the floor above her. Ron Weasley wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes while yawning.

"What is her problem?" he asked sleepily, "She doesn't even work until 11 o'clock today...the bloody _bookstore_ doesn't even open until 10 for Merlin's sake. If she doesn't stop stomping around and making all this ruckus she's going to wake up Hugo, and you know how foul he is when he's woken up earlier than he wants to be."

"I have no idea Ron," said Hermione in return, "I wish she would tell me more...but she's been of age since February so I don't want to pry into her personal life...if it was important I'm sure she would tell us."

"It's a good thing I can use magic to dry my hair!" exclaimed Rose as she ran down the stairs and past her parents in the kitchen fully dressed, "I'll be home for supper Mum, mmmm I _love_ these cookies" she said as she grabbed an oatmeal cookie on the counter as she ran out the door.

"You'd think that she was going to an appointment with the Minister for Magic or something by the way that she's dressed." remarked Ron as Rose poked her head back into the room.

"Not the Minister for Magic Dad," she explained, "Harriet L. Felixa is dropping off her new manuscript this morning at 8:30! I overhead my boss talking about it last week!"

"You know, for such a young talented Head Girl of Hogwarts, you sure read some baaaad fiction," said Ron laughingly looking at his wife, "Don't you think Hermione?"

But Hermione just looked down at her plate of bacon, cheeks slightly flushed.

"Women! Honestly!" exclaimed Ron, "That romance trash has about the same intellectual content as the back end of a flobberworm."

"What and _Flying with the Cannons_ doesn't?" burst out Hermione.

Feeling the beginnings of a row, Rose slipped out of the room before the pots would begin to be thrown.


	3. Unexpected Meetings Locked Meanings

Chapter Two: Unexpected Meetings; Locked Meanings

The smell was horrible, but it was worth it. This was what Scorpius had to tell himself over and over again as he squatted behind the dumpster in the alley across from the back entrance to Flourish & Blotts. "Just relax," he muttered to himself, as he watched something that disturbingly looked like bubotuber puss drip down the side of the dumpster two inches from his face, "It's Harriet L. Felixa! All of this will just seem like nothing when you look back holding your autographed copy of..."

Then it hit him. How exactly was he going to get her to sign the copy of the new novel? He had been so excited by the letter and the prospect of meeting her in person, that he had not thought about what he would do once he had leapt from behind the wretched dumpster to reveal himself to his idol. In fact, now that he thought about it...if someone jumped from behind a pile of rubbish in a dark alley at him, he would probably hex their bottom around backwards.

But what should he do instead? He wanted the book so badly, but he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his favourite author...Well he definitely had to get out from behind the dumpster to avoid frightening the woman. He walked out from his putrid place of hiding and found himself face to face with the last person he wanted to see, Rose Weasley.

Male and Female cries of fright filled the air. The cries of fright changed into those of pain mingling with meowling as Rose stumbled back in incredulity, tripping over a nearby stray cat, landing flat on her back.

"You!" bellowed Scorpius, covering his moment of weakness with layers of fury and contempt, "What are you _doing _here? Are you _stalking _me or something?"

"Of course only _you_ would think of something like that!" snapped Rose, as she struggled back to her feet, "Are you seriously so full of yourself that you think everyone has a crush on you? I _work_ here for your information. Why are _you_ skulking around in a dark alley at 8:30 in the morning!"

"Well for your _information_ Miss Weasley I have a perfectly good reason to be here." said Scorpius haughtily. But on the inside, Scorpius was anything but haughty at the moment. What would he tell the girl? He had to admit that his actions would seem highly suspicious...unless she remembered what he had told her on the train in the their first year...he had to distract her! He had to think fast...

"I...was looking for my cat!" said Scorpius picking up the stray that Rose had tripped on. It wriggled in his arms, biting and scratching him. It was obviously not the kind of cat that enjoyed being held.

"Well it would seem you treat your pets as well as you treat your classmates," remarked Rose dryly as the cat squirmed uncomfortably in Scorpius' arms, "Hard to believe it's still alive, it looks ancient." said Rose. The cat hissed at Rose, leapt from Scorpius' arms and there were a few moments of silence as both of them watched it run the length of the alley and slink around a corner. Scorpius looked at his watch, it read 8:35. They must have made so much noise that Harriet L. Felixa had not wanted to–

"Aren't you going to go after you cat!" demanded Rose, interrupting Scorpius' train of thought.

"Oh...Right." said Scorpius, and he ran the same way the cat had and disappeared around the corner.

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As soon as Scorpius had left her field of vision, Rose ran over to the back entrance of Flourish & Blotts. She fumbled with her keys, found the right one, unlocked then threw open the door. There, just inside the door, was the new Harriet L. Felixa Romance Novel.

A loud, long, string of very unladylike curses echoed through the morning air. That wretched big-headed git of a Slytherin had made her miss what she had been waiting for all summer! What had he _really_ been doing there? Slytherins are usually quite excellent liars...he must have been really worried about her finding out why he was really there to be so thrown off his game...

A memory began to tickle the back of Rose's conscience...for some reason she thought of her first time on the Hogwart's train...but it was blurry. For some reason, her mind was telling her that the reason why Scorpius was in that alley was from that day...but a mental wall stopped her from recalling any details from the train ride. Her brain had never failed her yet, so Rose resolved to look for a book dealing with mental blocks on her lunch break later that day.

She would do whatever was necessary in order to make Malfoy pay. Before now, he was just another Slytherin to her. It was slightly annoying to her that he got grades as excellent as hers, but on the whole, she just tried to ignore his presence within the school. A little voice at the back of her head told her that she was being childish, but she didn't care. At the moment, Rose Weasley did not want to behave like an adult. Scorpius depriving her from meeting her idol had opened the Pandora's box of emotions that had been kept at bay for six years.

If the information buried within her subconscious was the key to causing Scorpius Malfoy to fall from his high horse, then Rose would channel her new raw feelings of anger into unearthing their secrets.

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As Rose Weasley explored the uncharted waters of her subconscious, Scorpius was running as fast as he could as far away as he could while frantically replaying every word that was said in the alleyway. Was she on to him? Was there anything she had said that had indicated she remembered, or had she forgotten what Scorpius had told her on the train six years ago?

Scorpius, reaching the Leaky Cauldron, stopped to take a few breaths. He suddenly flushed with pride. There was no way that he would have been able to sprint from the Flourish & Blotts to where he was standing at this time last year. This past June, Scorpius had noticed that he had been petting his dog Oberon a bit too hard, so he resolved to find a new way to vent all his tension that stemmed from living with his father.

The solution had been to do laps in the Malfoy family's swimming pool. The last time Scorpius had swam in the pool had been when he was ten years old. This was due to the lurid tile replica of the Malfoy family crest that rested upon the bottom of the deep end. Scorpius had gotten over his aversion to the pool for–what he had convinced himself to be–the greater good.

The results of his physical exertion had been positive. Scorpius became calmer, and for the first time in his life, did not want to strangle something every minute of the day. But as a group of girls giggled as they walked past him, Scorpius noticed another unexpected and rather annoying result that he had not anticipated...muscles. Doing laps in the pool every day had given him a swimmer's body, which was to say, muscles that were well proportioned and well defined. Scorpius looked down, and saw that his t-shirt, which had fit loosely around his biceps and pecs earlier that summer, was now quite snug.

Resolving not to leave his house without a sweater from now on, Scorpius strolled into the leaky cauldron to have a real breakfast. Being 9 o'clock, the pub was quite full with older witches having a spot of tea before their morning shopping...

"Bollocks!" exclaimed Scorpius loudly, making the closest elderly witch spill tea down her front as the witch next to her clucked her tongue in disapproval to the language. He had totally forgotten about the shopping he had to do! He needed to buy his textbooks...but that meant going back to Flourish & Blotts...that meant seeing _her_ again.

Thinking over his plate of pancakes for several minutes, Scorpius resolved that he would go for a walk in muggle London and return to the bookstore at around noon. Maybe by that time Rose Weasley would be on her lunch break or perhaps the store would be so packed that she would somehow miss him...Oh well. It was worth a try.

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It was 12:15, and instead of eating lunch in the back room of the store as she usually did, Rose was sitting at a table flipping through books. She sighed as she put down _Absolute Answers for Quirky Questions_; it was the fourth book she had flipped through so far, and it was the fourth book with absolutely nothing. Like I mean who in their right mind would want to know the best way to make their back hair grow into patterns?

She looked dubiously at _Teenage Witches and their Dire Dilemmas_; it was the last book in her pile, so she hoped it had some sort of answer to her problem. She looked at the table of contents: _Chapter one, Period Panics!_...no..._Chapter two, Boyfriend blunders_...**definitely** not..._Chapter three, Teenage witch selective amnesia disorder_...finally! Something that looks promising!

_Teenage witch selective amnesia disorder_

_A disorder that has affected young women for centuries. The first recorded case being in the 1500s, this disorder still affects women from ages 11-25 to this day. You must be asking yourself, what exactly __**is **__TWSAD? When women begin to reach maturity, many emotions begin to rush through their head. Everything feels better or worse than it actually is. Reaching physical changes in their bodies as well as awakening their magical power, magical women– witches–feel these emotions much stronger than muggle women. Reaching these highs and lows, maturing witches may become overwhelmed by these feelings. When a particularly strong feeling occurs, young women resort to TWSAD. This means, that parts of their memory are almost permanently stored away under lock and key. Instead of dealing with the emotion through normal means, a witch's mind will selectively erase all memories attached with the strong feeling._

_You must be asking yourself, why doesn't this happen to men? It's simple really, men deal with emotional blows in different ways. It is much easier for a male brain to process things of this nature. Aren't they all born with selective amnesia when it comes to chores anyways?_

_I kid, you __**really**__ must be asking yourself, what if I think that I have TWSAD? How can I get my lost memories back? It's simple! All you need to do is come to terms with what happened! _

_Chapter four..._

Rose stared blankly at the page. It's simple? SIMPLE? This is so STUPID! Just come to terms with what happened? How can you come to terms with something you don't even bloody remember? Rose, who had always relied on books for filling her brain with knowledge, was truly scandalized.

"EASY! EASY GRANDMOTHER'S BOTTOM!" screamed Rose as she slammed the book down on the desk while turning around. There, standing with arms full of textbooks and an open mouth, was Scorpius Malfoy.

"And I always thought you were such a soft, well spoken girl" said Scorpius with a smirk.

"You!" exclaimed Rose, walking towards him, finger pointing at his chest, "I will remember! I will not let this beat me! You mark my words!" and she walked through the door that separated the storefront and the back of the store.

A/N: arrrrgh that took me so long to write...I've been packing all week...I'm soooo sorry. sigh hopefully I'll be able to spit out the next one soon. Probably not...just be patient, and feel sorry for tenchi who's starting her first year of university next week :S

PS thanks so much for all the reviews! It makes me feel so good...having not written in a while and all... they just make me want to write forever:D


	4. Train Rides and Untrained Thoughts

A/N Wow...that took forever to write. Well it was my first week at school...and I was a little busy haha. Anyways this chapter is extra long to make up for it. I would like to apologize for the mistake I made in my prologue someone mentioned that Teddy Lupin wouldn't be at Hogwarts with them...and they're absolutely right. I was just so focused on my storyline to even notice...I just needed another character to be in the conversation haha...I don't even think he's going to be in any more of the story...oh well. Anyways...I'll try to get the next chapter up as fast as I can...but it is going to be slow...so please bear with me! Keep reading...I love your reviews...in fact the last two I got gave me the motivation to finish this chapter...thanks so much! So please keep reviewing...and without further ado...

Chapter Three: Train Rides and Untrained Thoughts

"I'm so worried...what if I don't do my job the way I'm supposed to?" whined Rose.

"Sometimes I swear Rosie...if you didn't have that dark red hair of yours, you'd be a clone of your mother!" exclaimed Ron Weasley with an exasperated tone of voice.

"Seriously Rose...just shut up," stated Hugo Weasley flatly while shaking his chin length curly brown hair out of his face, "You know that you're going to be like...the best head girl ever...or something...since mom never got to be one."

"Oh stop it Hugo," said Hermione, "you're making your mother blush!"

"But really mom..." started Hugo, but Rose didn't really listen to the rest. She toned out what they were saying and just sort of stared blankly out the window. It was 10:30AM, September first of her last year at Hogwarts. She was excited to do her NEWTs of course...but it was just so sad...like what was supposed to be the best years of her life were coming to an end...

Rose was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her brother's voice crack. All the tension in the car dissipated as Hugo blushed when the other three Weasleys laughed at him. Hugo had turned fifteen the past week, and he was beginning to reach puberty. He had also grown about a foot over the summer, so besides his curly brown hair identical to that of his mother's, he was looking more and more like his father every day.

As the Weasley's automobile pulled up to King's Cross station, Rose took a deep breath. It was just seventh year...sure it was her last...and she was legal to drink...but it shouldn't be too different than the others...would it?

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Meters away, Scorpius Malfoy had just cleanly apparated into the blocked off handicapped stall of the King's Cross Men's Washrooms. It was the safest, and biggest place that was suggested by Ministry officials for 17 year olds to use if they did not want their family to see them off.

Scorpius definitely did not want his parents to see him off at the train station, so, being quite advanced in magic he had side-along apparated his trunk to go with him. Squeezing out of the stall, getting a few strange looks at the "closed for maintenance" sign on the door from men at urinals, Scorpius checked the time. It was 10:30AM...good, lots of time. He had to meet with the Head Girl in the first compartment at 10:45 to discuss events for the year and to talk to the prefects...etc.

Scorpius put his trunk on a trolley and walked briskly towards the divider between dividers 9 and 10. He wanted to be at least 10 minutes early. He was to be working with the Head Girl all year, and he wanted to make a good impression. He wanted her to know that he was trustworthy.

Scorpius wondered what she was like...he had been secretly dreaming about this day all summer. He would finally meet someone at the same intellectual level as himself. Maybe they could even be friends...

He started to jog...he was only a few meters away when–WHAM!–something hard hit his trolley causing it to fall over and his trunk to spring open, books and clothes spreading all over the floor.

Scorpius looked up to see if the person was hurt, and saw that it was a girl with dark red wavy hair. No it couldn't be...

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Rose gaped at the boy on the ground in front of her in horror. All that she could remember was that she had been running towards the barrier thinking about what she was say to the Head Boy...then she had hit something hard. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts, she hadn't even seen the other cart.

"I'm..." said Rose awkwardly wanting to say sorry to the boy and help him up, but then he turned, "You!" she exclaimed.

"You are many things Rose Weasley," said Scorpius trying to gather his things up, "but I am definitely sure that you are not me."

"Are you following me? Why are you here at the exact same time?" asked Rose hysterically, "This is too much of a coincidence! The alley? The bookstore..." she trailed off.

"Now, now Rose think about this. You don't want to look even crazier after what you said at the bookstore. I think if any one of us is a stalker, I think it's you. I mean all that 'I will remember' stuff you were yelling...makes you seem like the weirdo, not me. So if you would excuse me, ms. lunatic, you have made me late." said Scorpius as he put the last book into his trunk, and lifted his trolley back onto it.

"How can you be late? The train doesn't leave for another...ummm" Rose looked around for a clock,

"55 minutes. Exactly. I am late." stated Scorpius, finishing Rose's sentence. And before Rose could say anything more, he had disappeared through the barrier.

"Rose!" said a female voice from behind her. Rose turned and saw that it was her younger cousin Lily Potter. She had her bright red hair in a plait down her back, and Rose noticed that a badge with a large P was pinned to her chest.

"Oh!" exclaimed Rose, "I forgot that you were made a prefect!"

"Yah," said Lily, "I'm the first in the family..." Rose looked behind her cousin to see that Lily's older brother Albus was not there.

"Where's Al?" inquired Rose.

"Oh...he's coming later. He wanted to apparate. I expect he wants to be _fashionably late_ or something idiotic like that...well you know how he is now." said Lily as she rolled her eyes.

Rose knew exactly what Lily was talking about. Albus had always been a timid boy, but it had turned out that it was only because of his older brother James. James had always teased his younger brother quite mercilessly about not being on the Gryfiindor Quidditch team. So when James had graduated two years previous and Albus had taken his position as Seeker, quite a dramatic change had taken place.

It turned out that Albus had directly acquired his father and grandfather's superb seeking talents. Where James had been a better than average seeker, Albus was amazing. This had all gone to the boy's head, causing him to bear a striking resemblance of his older brother's namesake. He had become rather arrogant, and had gotten into the habit of messing up his hair whenever girls came close.

"Yeah whatever...where's your parents?" inquired Rose looking around for her uncle's untidy black hair or her aunt's shocking red locks.

"Oh...Mum's staying behind to make sure Albus leaves OK and Dad just dropped me off on the way to work...he has like something important to do or something...Auror stuff...naturally he couldn't tell me what..." said Lily, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Meh...it's probably a lot more boring than it sounds," said Rose encouragingly as she looked at the clock on the wall, "Oh no! I'm late! I was supposed to meet the head boy at 10:45! I'll see you at 11:00 for the prefects meeting OK Lily? Bye!"

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"Good morning, my name is Scorpius Malfoy, I'm Head boy for this year...no...Pleased to meet you, I am Scorpius Malfoy but you can call me Scorpy...no! What the hell was that? Argh!" yelled Scorpius as he checked his watch.

"10:45...she'll be here at any second and I have no idea what to say...I'm so bad with people..." Wailed Scorpius miserably, "If only that Weasley girl hadn't waylaid me, I would have had 10 more minutes at least to think!"

Scorpius paced the length of the rather large Head Boy and Girl compartment. He did this for what seemed like hours...he looked at his watch again. 10:55...she was late! How dare she be late! Forcing himself to calm down, Scorpius took several deep breaths to steady himself. He was sure that there was a perfectly good explanation for the Head Girl to be late.

"Ah! Stupid door! Open!" sounded a female voice from behind the doors of the compartment. There was a struggle–as the door was stuck–and finally the door flew open, catching the girl off guard, causing her to fall into the compartment, and into the arms of Scorpius.

Unable to speak, having stopped a stranger from falling on her face, Scorpius just stood there also unable to move. He smelled the pleasant smell of vanilla wafting from the girl, and he looked down to see the top of an auburn head.

"Oh...my...no...way..." was all managed Scopius managed to say as he let go of the girl as fast as if she had burnt him. He was staring at her with eyes as big as dinner plates, but she hadn't even noticed. Standing in front of him, was Rose Weasley...again.

"Thanks so much..." said Rose as she pulled up her knee socks, "that door was really...WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!" she yelled suddenly as she finally looked into the face of her saviour.

Confusion turned to surprise, then quickly to anger in a span of five seconds in Scorpius' mind.

"You're late! Didn't your mother ever teach you common courtesy? Are you sure you're smart enough to be Head Girl?" snapped Scorpius

"Who are you calling stupid Malfoy?" yelled Rose, her voice becoming very shrill, "'Oh you made me late' he says. Late for being early? How stupid is that?"

"Well at least I can open a door!" spat Scorpius, his voice starting to raise as well.

"Well...it was stuck! It wasn't my fault!" screamed Rose hysterically

"Yah! But you didn't have to go all falling all over me! I knew you were a stalker!"

There was a knock, and the door opened.

"WHAT!" yelled both Rose and Scorpius, turning towards the intrusion, both breathing heavily from the row.

"We're...here...for the prefect's meeting...?" asked a short blond haired boy rather shakily, looking terrified.

"Oh..." said Scorpius, feeling mortified at what those eight fifth years might have heard...

"Come on in!" said Rose cheerily, suddenly with a large welcoming smile on her face, as if what had just transpired in the compartment had never happened.

Scorpius shook his head amazed at her ability to recover as he closed the door behind the last prefect to enter the compartment.

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It was a good length meeting...considering that they hadn't really had a chance to plan before hand. The head boy and girl meeting at 10:45 was supposed to be a time to brainstorm sort of a plan for the year. Since Rose was late...and then they just yelled for the rest...the brainstorming had to be extended to the Prefect meeting.

Rose was impressed with the Prefects, they had come up with several good ideas for things like conflict resolution and things like that. One girl had even gone so far to suggest having people do the whole trust exercise where you have to catch each other or something like that, but Scorpius had vehemently refused to do it.

As the meeting drew to a close, Rose, feeling thoroughly embarrassed for being caught in a shouting match, told Scorpius that she needed to go and get a bit of fresh air. He gave her a strange look, but let her go just the same. It wasn't until she was halfway down the train when she realized how stupid she must of sounded. Fresh air? She was on a train! The only way she would have gotten fresh air was if she like...jumped off...no wonder he gave her that puzzling look with those beautiful eyes...WHOA. What was that? Well they are kind of nice...

Lost in her thoughts, Rose wandered down the corridor, not really caring how fast she was going or what time it was...she was thinking out the meeting...when the little blond prefect–who they had found out was named Daniel Groves–had raised his hand to ask to go to the bathroom, Scorpius had laughed and told him that they weren't their teachers. It was the first time Rose had ever seen him looking genuinely amused and having a smile that wasn't dripping with sarcasm...

Suddenly, an image of a young Scorpius flashed through her head, smiling the same smile...but what did it mean? Was she getting closer to the secret? Would her memories be coming back like this, in flashes?

"Well hello there honey...you lost? You want me to _turn you on_ to where you need to go?" said an obnoxious male voice from behind her. Rose turned, ready to hex the creeper but...

"Albus? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" shrieked Rose realizing who it was.

"Rose...ah...I didn't realize...you look really good today...I mean...ew you're my cousin...oh merlin I'm so sorry..." stammered Al looking around for some sort of escape from the situation he had found himself, "Gotta find the food trolley...I'm _famished_...see you!" and he ran off in the other direction.

Rose, kind of freaked out by being hit on by her cousin, decided that she couldn't turn her back on her predicament any longer. She walked the way back to the head boy and girl compartment at the front of the train. She suddenly felt a cold chill and she rubbed her arms. If only I had those strong arms to hold me and warm me up...What? Rose shook her head violently side to side as if the shake the strange thoughts of Scorpius off of her brain.

By time she reached her dreaded destination, she had an apology speech all prepared. She opened the door ready to spit it out, but she never had the chance. There, lying on the bench with his mouth slightly open, fast asleep, was Scorpius. He looks so cute...NO he doesn't...get a **grip** Rose! Since he looked so...peaceful...Rose decided to let him sleep, and she drifted off herself as the sun began to go behind the hills.

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"...ius!...Scorpius wake up we're here!" said a female voice close to him,

"No mum...five more minutes..." mumbled Scorpius, half asleep.

"I am not your mother! Get up! Are you Head Boy or not? You're not even in your robes yet!" said the same voice, but more impatiently. Scorpius opened his eyes, and saw Rose Weasley standing before him throwing on her long black traveling cloak. Sounds from outside the compartment began to filter into his head. There was no rhythmic rumbling of the train in motion...just excited voices and footsteps.

"Oh...we're here!" said Scorpius in a panicked voice,

"Yes!" said Rose, rolling her eyes, "That's what I **just** said! Now I'm going to go help organize the first years with Hagrid, when you've changed, go and show the second years where the carriages are. Ok?" and she swept out of the room.

"Wow...what a bossy girl..." said Scorpius while shaking his head...he changed as fast as he possibly could and he rushed out to help the second years with his Slytherin prefects.

"Second years! Over here! Just hop onto one of these carriages here..." hollered Scorpius over the hubbub of the baggage collection.

"Hey ladies!" called a voice from the back of the crowd that was getting off the train. "Hop on the **Al-**Bus instead! Plenty of room in the BACK!"

Scorpius magnified his voice magically, "Whoever said that, may I remind you that these girls are **twelve** years old!" and his meaning must have gotten through because the voice didn't say anything more.

It was quite an uneventful ride...unless you count having to stop a couple of third years levitating the carriage in front of them...or the group of girls who had filled his carriage with bewitched love notes that tapped at his head until he opened them.

Scorpius wondered how Rose was doing with the first years...he remembered his ride over the lake as a child...in fact he had been in the same boat as Rose...

"Head boy person!" came a high pitched voice below him, as he walked up to the castle, "Rodney vomited in the carriage!" Scorpius sighed and thought 'what is the point of this Head Boy thing anyways?' and he walked towards the sick 12 year old trying only to think about how good this will all look on his application to graduate school...

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Meanwhile, Rose was just reaching the other end of the lake with the first years. She was wrapping a young blond haired boy in her travelling cloak when she had another flash of memory. It was her...and Scorpius...on a boat...this boat! Wait...her mind must be playing tricks on her. She had definitely _not_ ridden on the same boat as Scorpius Malfoy in her first year.

As they docked the small boats, she took her cloak back from the young boy and entered the warm castle. She showed the first years to the room where they were to wait to be sorted, and she went to her own seat in the great hall at the Gryffindor table.

The sorting and the feast seemed to blur together...she was sort of listening to the girls next to her but not really...snippets of their conversation drifted in and out of Rose's consciousness...

"Did you read the new Harriet L. Felixa novel?"... "I heard the L. stands for Lovula...isn't that interesting?" ... "I think it's just weird..."

Rose felt lonely. She had always gotten along pretty well with her peers, but had never had very many close friends. She was close to her cousin Lily...but she was younger than her and had her own school friends...Rose had only ever had one true friend...

"Ouch!" said Rose as her head gave a painful throb. She must have a headache from herding all the little first years...a distant magically magnified clearing of a throat echoed throughout the hall as everyone's finished pudding disappeared from the tables.

"Good evening students!" exclaimed the Headmaster Professor Dumas.

"Oh great," said the girl next Rose, "Professor Dumb-ass is going to make a speech. I wonder what part he'll forget this time..."

"It's pronounced Doo-mah Jen! May I remind you that you're sitting next to the head girl, and that you're insulting the headmaster?" said Rose testily

"Whatever..." muttered Jen.

"Today is the beginning of a new term! Some of you are new...some of you are veterans to this kind of thing, but rules are rules! No using magic in the hallways...no going into the forest etc. you know the drill...well except you new students I guess...you wouldn't know...that's why I'm telling you...*ahem* just ask your prefects if you want the full list of regulations. Anyways...first years, follow your prefects to your dormitories, Head Boy and Girl, to me please. Have a good year all!" said Professor Dumas.

Rose reached the head table before Scorpius, being as her table was adjacent to it. When Scorpius got there, the Headmaster started to walk towards the doors of the now empty Great Hall. Rose being confused, opened her mouth to ask where they were going, but the Headmaster, almost reading her mind, spoke first,

"Rose, Scorpius, I am bringing you to your new dormitories." said Dumas walking up the marble staircase.

"But...Head Boy last year was in the Slytherin Dormitory, his room was just down the hall from mine!" said Scorpius sounding a little shaken. Being a Slytherin, he liked to have everything planned to the smallest detail. Rose guessed that the unknown very much frightened Scorpius.

"Ah yes! But do you also remember that the Head Boy last year nearly lost his Head? ...Literally?" said Dumas, chuckling at his own joke.

"You mean when Lucy Bloomingdale pushed him down the steps of the Quidditch stands?" asked Rose, "what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well...Lucy Bloomingdale was Head Girl! Is it not the point of Head Boy and Girl to cooperate and help the smooth running of the school?" inquired Dumas.

"Well yes..." started Scorpius.

"That was a rhetorical question." said Dumas curtly and Scorpius blushed, "Anyways, we had a chat about the topic over the summer–the heads of house and I–and we decided, especially since you two are from Gryffindor and Slytherin, that extra measures must be taken to help make you closer, and ultimately perhaps become...friends? hmmm?"

Rose was speechless as they reached the end of the Transfiguration corridor. She was also looking at their surroundings. They had turned down a rather narrow passage that Rose had never noticed before. There, at the end of the hallway, was a painting of a couple obviously in the throes of young love. They seemed to be snogging quite forcefully as they reached them, and Dumas had to clear his throat to get them to stop.

"Cooperation!" he said, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a small common room and library.

"Here is your common room, and private Head Boy and Girl Library. Through the far door is your shared bathroom. The other washroom is undergoing repair...biting toilet seat...nasty business...Connected to the bathroom are the doors to your separate bedrooms. Each of you may set your own password to get into your bedroom." said Dumas in a monotone voice, sounding like a recording almost. He walked back towards the portrait.

"Professor this is ridiculous! How is this going to work?" exclaimed Scorpius

"Shared Washrooms? We barely know each other!" exclaimed Rose at the same time.

"No questions?" said the Professor as he walked out of the door, "Good!" He smiled, ignoring both of their furious faces, and closed it.


	5. Elusive Daydreams Unrealized

A/N: Yay! Actually managed to spit out the next chapter During a 6 hour train ride! Thank you trains for not making me motion sick!...enjoy!

Chapter Four: Elusive Daydreams Unrealized

It was the first night of his seventh year at Hogwarts, and Scorpius Malfoy could not sleep. Was it the fact that it was a different bed from what he was used to? It must be..._No it's not_ said a voice at the back of his head, _You know the __**real**__ reason why you can't sleep_. Scorpius reluctantly agreed with the little voice. He knew that it was because of the girl...the girl who was now metres away...sleeping soundly.

Why couldn't he sleep? He felt the lead weight of tiredness press on him, but sleep would not come. Suddenly, the light turned on in his room, temporarily causing him to become blind. As shapes began to form he saw her. There, standing in the doorway to his bedchambers was Rose Weasley, wearing nothing but her red silk nightdress. She walked over to the bed and sat next to the surprised Slytherin.

"What are you do–?" started Scorpius, but she shushed him by putting a pale finger to his lips.

"I don't understand...why are y–" but this time his words were cut off by her kiss. It was so startling, that Scorpius gasped into the girls mouth. The gasp soon turned into a deep moan, as the girl used this moment to penetrate his mouth with her warm tongue.

Scorpius had kissed a few girls, to humor them, and to say that he had, but nothing had ever come close to this. There were alternating warm waves and icy chills going up and down his body. He could feel the hairs stand up on the back of his neck as the red-haired seductress pushed him onto his back.

She continued to kiss him roughly as she pulled the sheets down off of his sweating body. The pressure from her hot mouth released itself, making Scorpius whimper in protest. Rose looked hungrily into his eyes and grasped his already erect member through his green silk boxer shorts.

"Rose" Scorpius managed to squeak out in a vocal register two octaves higher than usual, "Why are you doing this? I thought that you hated me, I thought that I hated you..."

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but instead of what Scorpius was hoping to be a quick reply–so they could get on with what they were doing prior– what came out of her mouth was a loud buzzing noise.

Scorpius woke with a start. He looked over at his alarm clock and groaned. He looked down at the large bulge in his shorts, and sighed.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" he asked himself, as he headed towards the washroom, towel hanging over one of his broad shoulders. But as the warm water glided off his muscular torso, Scorpius could still not understand what had provoked such a...well forcefully vivid...dream. He thought about the look in Rose's eyes as she had grasped him, and his organ twitched expectantly.

Deciding that he couldn't go to class in the, well _state_, that he was in, Scorpius reached down and began to pump his erection. He let go of a small moan as he reached closer and closer to climax...and no matter how he tried, he couldn't get the vixen out of his head! He was getting closer now, and he pictured himself thrusting into her, As he reached his peak he could hear her yelling his name, louder and louder...

"Scorpius...Scorpius!"

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"Scorpius...Scorpius! Scorpius get out of the shower! You've been in there for like an hour!" cried Rose, banging on the bathroom door. Breakfast was in 10 minutes, and although she took baths at night which saved her time not showering, she still needed to brush her teeth.

"If you're not out of there in five seconds I'm going to use Alohomora!" threatened Rose, but there was still no answer. She could still hear the water running, so she knew he was behind the shower curtain. This being enough justification for barging into the occupied bathroom, Rose unlocked the door with magic.

Rose began to brush her teeth. She went into a trance doing the repetitive motion, and she snuck a glance over at the shower curtain. Scorpius was in there...completely nude...the water dripping over his muscled body...Rose quivered at the thought...Suddenly, the water turned off, causing Rose to wrench the toothbrush out of her mouth in haste.

As she spit, she saw a sinewy arm reach out of the depth of the shower and grasp the green towel that was hanging on the rack. Rose, wanting to give the boy his privacy, walked towards the door, but before she got there, the curtain flew open, revealing Scorpius holding the towel, standing as naked as the day he was born.

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Scorpius could not move. He was stuck to the spot in shock and awe. The girl he had just be thinking of most passionately was now standing before him. He saw her eyes, big as saucers staring as well, then she saw her eyes slowly lower to his waist. They instantly snapped up and she blushed the same colour as her hair. This was then Scorpius realized that he was naked. He hastily wrapped the towel around himself, and he yelled... _loud._

"What are you doing in here? Haven't you ever heard of privacy? Are you some kind of pervert? I knew it! You were stalking me...and now you want to look at me nude? What is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean, you idiot?" retorted Rose with equal vigor, "I TOLD you I was coming in at _least_ 3 times...I didn't think you'd just fling open the curtain without at least a towel on! What were you doing anyways that made it so you couldn't hear me?"

"I...well...That's my own business!" stammered Scorpius, his turning the same shade as his row partner's.

"I have to go get ready...and you call ME a pervert!" and she walked into her gold and red bedroom, door slamming in her wake.

"Fine! Run away!" he yelled at the closed door. He walked into his room, and sat on the bed that he had lain in just over an hour ago, dreaming pleasantly about the girl every cell in his body now loathed once again.

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Rose Weasley was still angry when she reached her first class, which was Transfiguration. She was emanating such a powerful aura of hatred, even the few girls that were friendly with her steered clear as she reached her usual desk, which was naturally the one at the very front.

"What is wrong with her?" whispered Gretchen Neilson, the gossip queen of Hufflepuff, "Didn't get perfect on a test?" Everyone giggled as they turned to stare unabashedly at Rose as she slammed her wand on her desk with such force, that it caused the surface to burst into flame.

But as Rose hastily tried to put out the flames, the girls' attention shifted to the doorway ignoring the flames that were growing higher and higher. There, in the doorway was Scorpius Malfoy. Several girls sighed, and the looks on their faces made you know that they were picturing his face with a heart around it.

"He is _so_ beautiful!" whispered one of Gretchen's friends, Amelia, with admiration as he walked down the row towards them.

"I know," agreed Gretchen, "and look at how muscled he got over the summer! Good thing he's mine, right girls?"

The other girls frowned and glared in Gretchen's opposite direction. She was their leader, and that meant of course that _no one_ was allowed to stake claim on Scorpius except her. She was the loudest, the prettiest, and therefore, he was hers. Every girl pledged undying loyalty to her, but secretly they all planned to usurp her and take Scorpius for their own.

"Scorpius darling! Come and sit with me!" simpered Gretchen as Scorpius neared her desk, but he just ignored her and walked to the front. Rose, knowing that Scorpius was in the room, was having her anger affect her even more. It is very difficult to do magic while angry, so instead of making the flames disappear, she was instead making them alternate between the colours purple and green. Scorpius suddenly turned on the class.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded angrily, "Why aren't you helping her?"

The class just stared in disbelief. Not only had some of them never heard Scorpius speak, but the few who had, definitely had never heard him ever display emotion. Gretchen, being the sort of personality she was, opened her mouth as if to speak for the whole class,

"Well, she's head girl isn't she? She _should_ be able to fix them without even speaking, right? I mean this _is_ a seventh year Transfiguration class. We're the best of our year!" she said smirkingly as her female cronies' giggles echoed behind her.

"Exactly." said Scorpius coolly in his best Head Boy voice, flicking his wand making the flames stop immediately, "which is why we should all be _mature_ enough to help a person in need." and he sat at the desk across the aisle from Rose's, which was also in the front.

Before Gretchen could retort back with something she believed to be witty, the door opened and Professor Brooks walked in to start the lesson.

Rose was mortified. Not only had she lost control enough to set the fire, she could not even fix the damage that she had wrought! To top it all off, it was _him_ who had helped her. She wondered why...hadn't he yelled at her this morning? She stole a look at him, and saw that he was extremely focused on what the teacher was saying. Rose tuned into the Professor as well.

"...becoming an Animagus is extremely difficult, and the first that succeeds by the end of the year will not only get bonus marks in the course, but in the NEWT exam as well." stated Professor Brooks. Rose's head snapped up. Animagus? That was so difficult! She stole one more look at Scorpius and saw that he was trying to suppress a grin.

_So he thinks he can do this in a year does he?_ Thought Rose, _well we'll see who does it first_!

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The rest of the day was a blur for Scorpius. Since he was planning to enter training after Hogwarts to become a healer, he was concentrating solely upon Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures. He had to take Care of Magical Creatures in case he had to treat animal wounds in his future line of work.

The afternoon had been pleasant, not too warm, not too cold, and Hagrid had kept them busy tending to a unicorn that had gotten its leg caught in between the roots of a large tree. It was Hagrid's last year of teaching before he retired, so he was resolved that his small seventh year class of five students would all get an 'Outstanding' on their Care of Magical Creatures NEWT.

As Hagrid described the best way to tend to a dragon with scale rot, Scorpius' mind drifted...to becoming an Animagus. The freedom, the power, the excitement! He was going to succeed, he knew it. He was going to get that bonus Transfiguration mark. The healing field was incredibly difficult to get into, and if Scorpius refused to use his father's influence–which he definitely was–every extra mark counted.

Dinner was good...Scorpius thought. It was the first day of school, and he was already drifting into the lull of routine. In fact, he was almost at the Slytherin common room when he remembered that he was not lodged in the familiar area. He turned, and trudged back to the rooms that he shared with Rose...

Rose...it wasn't her fault that he hadn't heard her this morning...Scorpius felt heat creeping into his face as he remembered the look on her face as her eyes had traveled down his torso...Scorpius shook his head violently. Yes, she deserved an apology for the yelling he had directed at her, but she was still...The Enemy. She had ruined his chance to meet his idol, she had caused him to get an 'E' on his Transfiguration OWL, she had scorned his friendship as children...and worst of all, she now had control over his thoughts and feelings.

Completely stuck inside his own head, he had not realized that he had reached the portrait of the young lovers. He muttered the password and he stepped into the common room. He saw the back of the red head sitting on their couch, and he resolved to get the apology over quick and painless.

"Rose, I., I..." stammered Scorpius uncharacteristically, as Rose turned to look at him. The light from the window shined down upon her auburn locks, creating a halo effect. Scorpius' breath became caught in his throat, and he found that he could not say what he wanted. She was...so...beautiful. Her dark brown eyes, narrowed with suspicion.

"You what?" she said testily. She obviously had not forgotten their argument earlier.

"I...I'm sorry." said Scorpius quietly.

"That's what I thought!" exclaimed Rose triumphantly, rising from her seat, "I knew you were going to try to beat me at becoming...wait, what?"

"I'm sorry for raising my voice this morning. It was not your fault that...certain events...came to pass. In order for us to live in relative peace, even though we hate each other, we must at least apologize for things that are our faults." he said calmly, ignoring her outburst.

"Oh...I guess..." she replied, flushing profusely.

Not understanding how or why, Scorpius moved closer to the girl. She was so small, and she looked so cute when she wasn't angry...he longed to envelop her in his strong arms, and protect her...

She looked up into his eyes, and for a second Scorpius thought that she felt the same way, but they were once again guarded.

"Apology accepted." she said roughly turning the other way, and with that, she walked through the bathroom, and into her own bedroom.

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Rose sunk into her bed, confused. She could have sworn that she had seen something in those usually cold blue eyes...she had seen some sort of warmth. At that moment, she had felt a sudden surge to be held by the arms that had held her on the train...she wanted to feel loved by someone...a man.

Rose had had a few boyfriends over the years, but they had only dated her because they found her attractive. All that she wanted was someone she could sit with, talk with...laugh with...

Suddenly her head throbbed painfully, as an image of a young boy with blond hair flashed into her head. He was in a train, and he was talking animatedly, laughing sometimes. Rose could not hear what was being said...like the words were just outside of her earshot. Only a soft mumbling sound could be heard, but a part of the dialogue seeped through the barrier,

"Pinky Promise"

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A/N...yah I know this is a really bad place to end a chapter, but...w/e lol...please R/R and tune in for the next chapter...please let me know if I'm moving things too fast between the two of them, I'll slow it down if you guys want...I mean, I'm writing for me, but if you guys don't like it...what's the point? if you don't want me to slow down the action, maybe she'll get her memory back soon! gasp!


	6. Interlude and Magnetism

A/N...I've decided to start his chapter with a little interlude...enjoy:)

Interlude:

Draco rolled onto his back, and he could feel the cold seeping into the left of his body. In the king sized bed that he shared with his wife, the foot or two down the middle was never occupied, unless he felt the need to take from his wife what was rightfully his as a husband. Other than that, they never talked in bed nor touched in bed. The bed, was essentially, only a place to sleep that was comfortable. This is why this night was so different.

"Draco," said Astoria, practically inaudibly. "I wish to speak to you about something."

The unexpected sound from his left, from across the barrier, made Draco jump so badly that he hit his head on the headboard of their four poster.

"For Merlin's sake woman! You're going to scare me half to death!" exclaimed Draco, angry at himself for showing weakness. It was hard to hold your tongue when your head was throbbing. But Astoria, knowing that her husband would be angered if she reacted to the outburst, continued on as if nothing had happened,

"I think that we should get a divorce." she stated simply, as if giving a business proposition.

"No," said Draco immediately, but when he went to give a reason why, he couldn't say a thing.

"Draco, this is ridiculous! I know your father wanted the name to be brought back out of darkness, and thanks to yours truly, it has. This isn't the middle ages! People get divorced now, and no one really cares! It's not working! We hardly speak, except for you to ask me how the finances are or for me to tell you that dinner is ready! I can't handle this...I'm already past forty, and I want to feel loved in my life!" She gasped out desperately, losing her reserved demeanor.

"No," said Draco, again calmly, and he did something that was rarely done in that bedroom. He turned to his side, reached up and touched his wife's face. Expecting to be struck for her insolence, Astoria recoiled from his hand, but instead he just wiped the tears from her cheeks. The barrier had been broken, physically, and emotionally. Draco could feel the warmth coming from his wife's body.

In the moonlight he could see her features, glowing like some sort of faerie creature. Her steely gray eyes, her wavy light brown hair...she was beautiful, and he took it for granted. Of course it was necessary when Lucious had picked her, a beautiful wife, to create beautiful children. But, he had never seen her in this way. For eighteen years, Draco had avoided looking at his wife. The marriage was not for love, it was never for love. Love would only complicate things.

Not knowing how, or why, his body was now pressed against hers, his faces mere inches from hers. She avoided his look, knowing that this closeness meant that he was going to strip her and make her his once again. But, it never came. This closeness was different, more intimate. He tenderly clasped her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.

"I cannot allow you to leave," he said thickly, emotion threatening to escape with every syllable, "I cannot because...because I love you Astoria."

Astoria's eyes widened with surprise, and then they softened as she gazed at her husband in a way that she had never done before. Suddenly, his lips were upon hers, and he was kissing her. Her lips, her cheeks, her neck, her forehead, everything that he could reach. A moan escaped Astoria's lips as he unbuttoned her nightgown, and trailed the kisses lower and lower...

"Stop!" she cried, while using every ounce of will she had, she pushed him off of her, "just...Draco...I don't understand...all these years..." but he put a finger to her lips and shushed her.

"I love you Astoria. I'm stupid, I've been stupid all of these years. I love your laugh, I love the way you chew on pencils when you're thinking, I love how you look beautiful even when you're wearing sweatpants...I..." the words were coming so fast, from so deep inside him it was almost impossible to stop them.

"Is this true? Is it all true? You're not just trying to get me back through some strange way...so that the family looks good?" she asked, knowing that what she said made no sense.

"It is all true. Now please Astoria, let me do things to you that I've owed to you for over 18 years." and he reached for her nightgown, wanting to take the garment off of her, but she had beaten him to it.

"I love you as well Draco, I love you more than you will ever know," and she sealed her words with a kiss, a kiss that was shared over the middle of the bed, a part that would never be empty again.

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Chapter Five: Magnetism

"Bollocks!" exclaimed Gretchen Neilson as her hair fell limp to the sides of her head. The curl charm that she had been trying to do was just not working for her that morning. Sighing and giving up, she alternatively just pulled her hair back into a messy bun.

Today was an important day, it was the first meeting of the year for the club she had formed the year before. This club was of course called the 'Scorpius Malfoy Club'. It was for all girls in their year who believed that Scorpius Malfoy is indeed God's gift to women. So tall...so refined...so smart...and _oh_ so _gorgeous_! Of course, the club was actually designed for Gretchen to brag about how the other girls would never get Scorpius' affections. It was her little time of the week to make herself feel better than all the rest...except something recently had irked her confidence slightly: Rose Weasley.

Her Scorpius seemed to have taken a strange interest in her...of course she was exceedingly intelligent, the only person to rival with Scorpius' own wit. It was also hard not to notice her stunning beauty. She was the only person in their year that was more beautiful than Gretchen. Even then, Gretchen knew that she was far behind. She wore pounds of makeup on her face every day, and she had to wrestle with her lank blond locks to make them seem lively. Rose on the other hand, wore no makeup–she did not need it– and her hair was always full, wavy, and glistening.

But the thing that bothered Gretchen the most of all, was the new Head Boy/Girl quarters. Why does this girl get to share rooms with her beloved Scorpius? It was not fair! This...girl...who was not even a pureblood! Gretchen was not a Slytherin, but the thought of this girl brought out the worst in her. She had to do something to put this usurper in her place!

"Marcus darling?" she said as she walked over to a handsome boy sitting in the corner of the common room. He looked up quickly, almost too quickly, with a look in his eyes reminiscent of a puppy dog getting read to sit for his master.

"Yes Gretchen?" he asked, eagerness dripping from every tone. Gretchen smiled to herself and bathed in the glory of having most men adore her. This particular target just happened to be her biggest prize, short light brown hair, green eyes, straight teeth...but best of all, he would do anything for her.

"Marcus honey, do you find the Weasley girl attractive?" he shifted his eyes to the ground, "now tell the truth darling." she said with a motherly tone.

"Well...a lot of boys think that she's pretty attractive, but not as much as you Gretchen!" he said fishing for some kind of recognition, like a figurative pat on the head perhaps.

"Good. I need you to do something for me, I need you to make her like you. I need you to begin to date her, and then I want you to sleep with her...without her consent." said Gretchen coldly but easily, as if she was telling Marcus to put her socks out to dry.

"But Gretchen...how can you...why do you...?" he stammered looking to the object of his desire questioningly, not understanding why he was being asked this.

"Don't ask questions...I want you to make this girl pay. And if you succeed, you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams."

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Scorpius closed his eyes and began once again to picture an empty forest...and there, far in the distance was a shadowy animal...it was walking towards him...he called out to it...it was almost close enough to see...

"What are you doing?" said an intruding female voice, "I almost tripped on you!"

Scorpius turned to glare at her menacingly...he had been almost there! Of course he had to grudgingly admit that sitting in the middle of the common room floor with crossed legs wasn't the best place to be...

"You know..." said Rose shyly, completely focused on what she was going to say, not even realizing that Scorpius was picturing her head severing from her body, "I was thinking that we should get this whole 'cooperation' thing a shot..."

"Do you even realize that you just interrupted what I was doing?" asked Scorpius hotly, ignoring what Rose was trying to say.

"I mean..." she continued, ignoring him as well, "we're the best of our year...we could work together to get better grades right? I mean...of course as a business relationship strictly for studying purposes."

Scorpius blinked, thought a couple of seconds, then answered: "Do you realize that we were just having two conversations at once? Great cooperation!" and he burst into laughter.

Rose, who had been completely into what she was saying, looked at him quizzically then also started to laugh without knowing why. As she laughed, Scorpius studied her. Her teeth were so straight...he wondered whether she had altered them magically...he suddenly stopped laughing. He would not let his guard down...of course doing homework together would help him to get higher marks...He had to accept that she was just as intelligent as he was.

"I accept your proposal, Head Girl, what is it you would like to study?" he inquired with a businesslike tone.

"First," she said with the same tone, "You have to tell me what it is you are doing on the floor."

"Take a seat then, and I'll tell you." he said, continuing with the formality, "I'm attempting to do the first step of transforming into an animagus, which is of course, to identify the animal spirit that we are bonding ourselves to. So...I was meditating. You need to completely clear your mind, picture a forest, and try and get the spirit to come forth and show itself to you. In fact, my spirit was just on the edges of my sight when _you_ interrupted."

"Well _soorrrry_," said Rose sarcastically, the wall of correctitude starting to crack, "Come on, let me try." and she plopped down beside him on the floor, mimicking his position by crossing her legs as well.

"Ooooooooooooohmmmmmmmmm" she chanted, touching her middle fingers to her thumbs, waving her torso side to side dramatically.

"Stop it, I'm serious!" cried Scorpius, smacking her leg lightly and...affectionately? Rose looked down to where he had hit her, and moved a few feet away from him.

"Sorry," she said, as the invisible wall of formalness formed once again between them, "Let's meditate together...for school's sake."

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However, over the following two weeks, the wall between the Head Boy and Girl had cracked significantly. Every once and a while, Scorpius would make a mean sarcastic remark towards her, which would cause their relationship to slip back down further to where it had been before, but it would fix itself almost immediately. Both teachers and students were noticing the difference in the two students. The teachers noticed that their usually 'Outstanding' work was even more 'Outstanding' than usual, and the students saw smiles more and more often on both of their faces, something that meant in the past that a sarcastic or angry remark was going to come their way. But, the smiles were not sarcastic smiles, they were of genuine happiness.

Rose's head had been throbbing almost constantly, and she had to rub her temples to even picture the forest lately. She knew her memory was extremely close to coming back, but as she struggled to remember positive memories of Scorpius, all she could discover at the back of her mind were are all the times they had been pitted against each other for academic superiority. As she became more and more close to Scorpius, the less she wanted to know what was being hidden from her by her own mind. She knew that it must be negative memories...and she didn't want to fight with him anymore...she kind of liked the times that they studied or meditated together...

Rose had never had someone to be this close with. As the days passed, she found herself enjoying more and more the time she spent with Scorpius. They often went to the library together, and at the first trip to Hogsmeade they had gone to the book store together to look for animagus books.

The Friday after the aforementioned trip, Rose was climbing up the stairs from her second last class of the day, potions; her head throbbing as usual. Lately, it had been so bad, that she had to leave class to splash cold water on her face to keep herself from passing out. As she reached the top step, her head throbbed excruciatingly, and her stomach lurched nauseatingly. Stars filled her vision, and she could feel herself falling back...she neared the floor...waiting for her head to hit the stone steps...her head cracking...brains leaking out...

But, a pair of strong arms had caught her before the terrible apparition came to pass.

"Are you alright? You almost seriously hurt yourself!" said a deep male voice. Rose turned to see her saviour, and her heart dropped unexpectedly as she looked into green eyes as opposed to blue...it was not who she hoped it would be. It was Marcus Lindsey, the Hufflepuff Keeper. Rose separated herself from him, leaning on the wall instead for support.

"I'm fine..." she said shakily as she stepped up the last step, but she became dizzy once more and had to support herself against the stone wall.

"That doesn't look fine to me, I'm taking you to the hospital wing." said Marcus resolutely, picking her up and cradling her in his arms as easily as if she were a child.

"She doesn't need you to pick her up, Lindsey." said a cold voice from behind her. Rose saw that it was Scorpius. He was standing on the landing below them, his arms crossed, his face pale...from fear?

"Well I don't see you helping her Malfoy." returned Marcus, looking very intimidating –considering that he was a foot taller than Scorpius when they were on the same level–"I'm taking her to the Hospital wing, she's sick, not like you would care anyways you selfish Slytherin git."

"Whatever." said Scorpius, and before Rose passed out again, he looked directly into her eyes, and she could have sword she saw a look of concern flicker across his stormy irises.

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Rose woke up three hours later, and was shocked to find that she had missed her charms class. She could always get the notes from Scorpius later...but her notes were always better than his. Her head still hurt, but it felt slightly better. She looked on the bedside table and was shocked to see a vase with a dozen red roses in it. She read the attached card.

_Roses for Rose,_

_I don't want you passing out anywhere and hurting yourself again. Therefore, I will sacrifice my Friday night to make sure you don't go falling down all over the place. You must be underfed, so I am going to take you out for dinner tonight to make sure that you're well nourished._

_See you at 6,_

_Marcus_

Rose read the note three times, trying to understand. She read right through the feeble excuse for the date right away, but why did Marcus want to go out with her? He was one of Gretchen's cronies, and had only ever spoken to her once, to ask her what the homework was or something. She sensed something fishy...and resolved to keep a look out for anything suspicious.

As if on cue, Marcus came in the door. Rose couldn't help but noticing how attractive he was...his light brown hair fell to his chin, perfectly framing his square jaw. Although he was wearing a button-down shirt, his muscular shoulders, arms, and chest seemed to be almost bursting through the light-blue material.

As Rose admired how good he looked in his jeans, for one blissful moment, her headache disappeared.

_Well, I guess I'll give him a chance _she thought, and she rose to take his outstretched arm.

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It was after 1 AM when Rose returned to the common room. She was in a very good mood considering the circumstances...usually she hated going on dates. He was a little slow...but they had OK conversation, which got better as the night went on...perhaps due to the prolonged alcohol consumption. _Plus _he had asked her on another date the day after. The best part of the evening was that her head hadn't hurt at all the entire time. It was as if his presence was somehow medicinal...

Rose was careful not to let the door slam, she turned the lights on and gasped. Scorpius was sitting on the couch, eyes open, looking at the door...at her.

"What are you doing out here so late?" asked Rose.

"I could ask you the same thing," said Scorpius. When Rose gave him an inquiring look he continued, "I couldn't sleep...so I came out here to meditate...but I can't even make the forest come for some reason..." he trailed off looking out of the window.

"Well you know that happens to me a lot..." she said while walking towards to sofa. She sat down next to him, facing his right side,"turn so that you're facing me."

"Why?" asked Scorpius as he turned, skepticism coming through in his voice, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Just do it, I know what I'm doing believe me, now close your eyes."

"Ok..." said Scorpius, still sounding a bit apprehensive.

Rose reached out and placed her both her fore and middle fingers on both of his temples. Scorpius flinched at the coldness of her hands and opened his mouth to speak, but Rose shushed him. She began to rub small circles, alternatively increasing and decreasing pressure. She did this for a few minutes, then dropped her hands to his shoulders and began to massage. A deep moan came from the back of Scorpius' throat, and his lips parted. Rose's pulse quickened, as another suggestive moan escaped his beautiful full lips...She found herself leaning towards him, longing to press her lips to his...she was so close she could count his eyelashes...her lips brushes his...and his eyes snapped open.

"Your boyfriend wouldn't like you doing that." said Scorpius sarcastically...coldly. Rose snatched her hands back quickly, and got off of the couch.

"What boyfriend?" she asked, feeling a flush creeping up her face.

"Marcus Lindsey. Your _saviour_" he said with the same sarcastic tone.

"He's not my boyfriend!" said Rose, raising her voice for the first time in two weeks.

"Then why did you go on a date with him?" said Scorpius, jumping to his feet as well.

"What...I...um...He just wanted to make sure I was OK! If you hadn't _noticed_ I was quite sick this afternoon! He was the only one who _helped_ me!" she yelled heatedly.

"Oh really? So he's the one who cares is he? Are you stupid? He's one of Gretchen's lackeys! He would never really care about you. He just wants you because you're just some hot piece of ass to him!" He screamed back, chest rising and falling with anger.

Rose slapped him. "You are such a jerk!" and she stomped into her room, slamming both the bathroom and bedroom doors behind her.

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Scorpius stalked through the hallways, not knowing where his final destination would be, his rage blinding him. "So she wants to play it that way does she?" he asked to empty hallway, "Fine! I try to help her but _noooo_...of course not...she can have her hunky Quidditch boy...she can be hurt by him! See if I care! She can fuck whoever she wants! I can fuck whoever I want too! "

He rounded a corner, and found himself down the warmly lit corridor where the entrance to the kitchen was. He noticed that he was directly in front of the entrance to Hufflepuff's common room. Not knowing why he did it–although his anger of course played a part in it–Scorpius created his patronus. He sent it through the wall, and channeled a message through it, to Gretchen Neilson's bedroom.

"Meet me outside the common room," said the silver fox using Scorpius' voice, "There's no need to change out of your bedclothes."

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Rose woke up at 9 in the morning, unable to sleep. She felt horrible for slapping Scorpius...he was just worried about her...maybe even a little jealous. She had been apprehensive about Marcus in the first place too...Hearing the shower turn on, she decided to go and apologize.

"Scorpius..." she started to say, speaking loud enough so that he could hear her through the door and running water, "I'm sorry I hit you. Please forgive me...I know you were just concerned...if it really bugs you I won't go out with him tonight...come on...say something!"

The water turned off and the door opened.

"Will you shut up? I'm trying to take a shower!" said an annoyed voice.

There, standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but Scorpius' green towel, was Gretchen Neilson.

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A/N...Holy cow! Longest chapter ever lol...it was actually supposed to be a bit longer too...I just got way too tired of writing haha...anyways the next one should be up relatively fast then...cuz half of it is already in my head :D...anyways...let me know what you think!

PS...did you like the interlude?

tenchi


	7. The Vow

1Chapter six: The Vow

Scorpius' eyes snapped open. It was 9:00AM...he sighed, then thought about what had happened the night before...

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Scorpius and Gretchen fell onto his king-sized bed, becoming a tangle of limbs. He pulled his shirt off quickly as Gretchen pulled off her nightdress, revealing her naked body. Blond hair illuminated by the moonlight fanned out on his pillow causing Scorpius to close his eyes. _It's the wrong colour..._he thought to himself as he cupped her large breasts forcefully.

"They're too big..." he muttered to himself as Gretchen was undoing the belt of his jeans.

"What?" she asked breathlessly, craving seeping from every pore.

"Nothing." grunted Scorpius as he removed his jeans and boxer-briefs. He took his wand from his back pocket, muttered the contraceptive spell they're all taught in sixth year and placed then placed it on his bedside table. He put his hand roughly between Gretchen's open legs to see if she was wet enough. Being satisfied with what he found he mounted her and prepared to penetrate. Seconds passed...

"What's wrong?" asked Gretchen in a high pitched voice.

Scorpius opened his eyes, and a sickening wave of guilt washed over him. He looked into grey eyes, not brown; sighed, then rolled off of Gretchen and onto his back. Even if Gretchen was a horrible person...she didn't deserve to be treated this way. No one should be used as an output to anger or frustration...

"You don't deserve this." he said finally, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean? This isn't a question of deserving, it's a question of wanting! I want this!" she grasped his now half erect member, causing his hips to buckle upwards, "and I think you want this too!"

Scorpius took her arm, and removed it from his genitals. He turned to look at the girl lying next to him. She was kind of pretty without all that make-up on...

"How about a compromise?" he suggested meekly, "I just don't feel right having sex with you...just because I'm angry at someone else. Let's...spend some time with each other...and then maybe we can try this again another time when the reasons aren't so...complicated...?"

Gretchen rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "You're one of those? I guess I can make a special case just this once...you can date me for a short period of time...usually my boys are just for sex..." she said haughtily, not realizing that she had crossed the line.

"Get off my bed. Now." said Scorpius coldly.

"What?" said Gretchen, as she pulled her nightgown on, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I will not be used by you, get out." said Scorpius in the same frosty tone. "Unlike your other boy toys, I have a brain, and I will not simply be used as a prize to be shown to all your little girlies proving to them that you're the supreme whore."

Gretchen gasped, then jumped to her feet. "But...but..." she stammered, her confidence wavering, "I'm not a prefect, if I go back now...I'll get a detention!"

"Fine," said Scorpius in return, "but you're sleeping on the floor."

"I will not sleep on the floor! What do you think I am?" She said, outraged, and she went to go sit back on to the bed.

"I wouldn't do that." said Scorpius, "Unless you want boils all over that face you spend so much time on...you know I don't even think that your usual forty tons of make-up would cover them..."

"You're bluffing." said Gretchen, but not with complete confidence.

"Am I?" asked Scorpius, keeping his excellent poker face.

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Rose stared in disbelief. Why...was Gretchen Neilson...naked in their bathroom? Wearing one of Scorpius' towels? As if on cue the door on the other side of the bathroom opened. Scorpius appeared, wearing nothing but boxers and yawning. His eyes were closed because he was yawning, but as soon as he was done he froze in place, seeing that the two girls were there.

He looked with puzzled expression back and forth between them.

A sudden dawning of understanding illuminated Rose. _Holy Crap! _She thought, _they fucking slept together? I was like...metres away...that is __**so**__ disgusting._ _I am going to...I am..._

"Why are you still here?" said Scorpius disdainfully.

"What do you mean?" asked Rose, outraged, "I live here!"

"Not you idiot, the whore." said Scorpius glaring in the direction of the towel clad blonde.

"I...I..." stammered Gretchen, blushing profusely.

"What is wrong with you?" shouted Rose, not exactly knowing why. Gretchen had always been horrible to her...but no one deserves to be treated this way. "So this is the real Scorpius? You sleep with whoever you feel like then just throw them away? Gretchen may be pretty terrible be she doesn't deserve _this_!"

"You wouldn't understand." replied Scorpius cooly, turning his icy gaze to Rose instead.

"Oh really? Are you saying I don't know what it's like to be hurt? Well I do! I've been hurt by you before too!" cried Rose.

Suddenly, Scorpius' eyes widened for a second and something flashed across them...fear? _Why did I say that? Scorpius does piss me off...but I've never been really hurt by him...or have I...?_ Rose's head gave a powerful throb and she fell to one knee clutching her face.

Scorpius was instantly at her side, protecting, comforting...he went to put a hand on her back to rub it and make her feel better...

"Don't. Touch. Me!" said Rose as her head snapped up. Hot tears were pouring from her face, from the pain in her head and in her heart.

She rose to her feet, swayed, then went into her room, closing the door behind her.

"Once again! Won't take my help! Fine!" and he went into his room as well, leaving Gretchen alone in their bathroom, mouth open.

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Gretchen pulled her clothes on and got to her common room as fast as she could. It was Saturday morning...he would probably be asleep...but she would wake him. It would be worth it. Gretchen said the password and stepped inside the warm common room. It's paneled wood interior and black leather couches looked so inviting...she suddenly remembered that she hadn't slept at all the night previous...Gretchen reached the 7th year boys' dormitories and saw what she had been looking for.

"Marcus, get up. Marcus!" she whispered into his ear. He rolled over, yawned, then rose from his bed. She led him to the common room where they sat on opposite couches.

"Bloody hell Gretchen! You look terrible! What happened to you?" he asked, and she couldn't help but notice a small smirk creep up and about his full lips.

"I...it's a long story. Anyways...I need you to leave Rose Weasley alone. Just...I've had a change of heart. I mean...Scorpius and Rose were obviously meant for each other...they're...just leave her alone OK?" Gretchen managed to force out, even though it looked as though every syllable was kicking her in the bottom.

"No." said Marcus simply. The smirk now completely dominating his features.

"What do you mean no?" screeched Gretchen,

"No means...no. Are you stupid? That's a dumb question...of course you're stupid. I'm not going to leave her alone. I like her, and I have something special planned for her tonight...and no one's going to spoil it for me!" said Marcus, his face twisting into a maniacal grimace.

"What are you planning? How dare you disobey me!" cried Gretchen with desperation,

"I was never yours Gretchen...how could you ever believe that? I just pretended to be your eager little puppy...waiting for you to ask me to do something like this. In fact none of "your boys" are yours. All of your friends hate you...why don't you just...kill yourself and do us all a favour." he said, the grin causing his face to become less and less handsome.

"I...what..." said Gretchen as her face fell to the floor, her world shattering around her.

"Good night sweetie." said Marcus in a fake lovey voice as he rose the stairs back into the dormitories.

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For the rest of the day Rose just lied on her bed...staring mutely at the velvet red bed curtains that hung around her. Occasionally her stomach would rumble and bring to her attention that she hadn't eaten all day, but she just ignored it. She cried until she could not cry anymore without knowing why. Scorpius wasn't hers...they were getting closer...but not close enough for her to feel this pain. Or were they?

Rose's mind flashed back to instances when they had been together...laughing, smiling, and touching each other's arms nonchalantly...she was so confused. What were they? Study partners? Room mates...friends? Seconds blurred to minutes as minutes blurred to hours and before she knew it, it was 5 o' clock.

Over the time that had passed, Rose had come to the decision that she would go out with Marcus...have fun with him and just forget about Scorpius. What was it to her who he slept with? Why did it matter? He could sleep with whoever he wanted to!

She rose from her bed, and went to the washroom. She splashed some cold water on her face, and looked in the mirror to see that her face was all splotchy from the crying she had done all day. She hummed a nameless tune as she muttered spells to curl her hair and even out her complexion. _Magic really does work better when you're thinking positively_! She thought to herself as she clipped the front of her hair back with bobby pins. She smiled at her reflection after finishing her work. Her hair bounced about her face in perfect ringlets, and her face was so even it looked to have an airbrushed quality to it. She put on a bit of mascara and lip gloss to finish it off and returned to her room to get dressed.

Rose Weasley was not a very 'girly' person, if you were to put it that way, but secretly, dressing up in nice clothes always cheered her up and made her happy. Since it was their second date and they were only going to the three broomsticks for a few drinks, she settled on a simple button down black shirt with white lace designs on the cuffs and a high collar and a mid-calf length black suede skirt. Slipping on her black ankle boots, her outfit was complete.

Rose walked out into the common room of the Head boy and girl quarters and was relieved to see that it was empty. _He's probably off screwing some other whore...oh well, he may not be the only one getting some tonight!_ Thought Rose smugly as she walked to down to where she was to meet Marcus in the Entrance Hall.

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Hearing Rose leave the common room, Scorpius left his bed room and went into the bathroom. He felt horrible. Who was he kidding? All of these years spent trying to distance himself from his name, spent in vain. He looked into the mirror and saw his father's features starting back at him. He took out his wand and dyed his hair black with it, then he started to slash it. Chunks of his hair fell into the sink, mixed with his tears. He looked up to see that his hair now hung in uneven chunks down to his pointed _Malfoy_ chin...

_What are you trying to prove?_ Said a small malignant voice at the back of his head as he stared at himself in the mirror. _No matter how you try and change your outside, you will always be a Malfoy on the inside. Oh yes, your hair may be black instead of golden now...but all that does it match it to your soul. Look what you've done. You've pushed away everyone you've ever known...and now you've pushed away your only friend for the second time. _

"You're wrong!" cried Scorpius, his fist slamming into the mirror, smashing it to pieces. He shook with anger and hate of himself as he clenched his bleeding fist. He removed the glass from his hand with his wand, and he went to his room and grabbed his swimming trunks and a towel. He would do what he always did to deal with the pain. He would swim, until his muscles burned too much to continue or until he didn't know who he was anymore...whichever came first.

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It was a very pleasant dinner. Marcus had surprised Rose by conjuring a blindfold upon her and disapparating her to a lovely little Italian restaurant in muggle London. His intelligence seemed to have grew magically overnight (perhaps due to lack of alcohol) and she found herself–to her surprise– enjoying herself immensely.

By time they reached the Hog's Head for drinks, she found herself looking at him quite more than necessary. She had no headache, she was with a good looking boy who was interesting to talk to...and she had completely forgotten about Scorpius. Perhaps this was why she did not question the destination change, perhaps this was why she let her guard down, perhaps this was why she didn't notice Marcus slipping something into her drink. Finishing her second margarita, she found herself feeling quite tipsy, and more than a little bold.

She leaned forward across the small table they were sharing, meaning to kiss Marcus, but his face swam in and out of focus...did this usually happen when you've only had two drinks? She felt herself starting to fall off of her stool and was relieved when Marcus caught her.

"You're sho shtrong...where are we?" she slurred as he lifted her to her feet.

"Yes...I am...hey you look like you could use a lie down...do you want to go upstairs?" he asked her innocently.

"Shure!" she exclaimed, "Why not?" and she broke into uncontrollable giggles.

Her head drooped onto her own shoulder as she felt her body being guided up the stairs to the rooms in the tavern. Marcus led her to room number 6 and she opened the door and saw that there were three boys in the room.

"Marcus, there's already peoples in zish room, we needs to find anuzzer one." she said confused, but that's when it hit her, danger. There was something wrong happening. Now. She reached clumsily for her wand and found that it was not in her purse.

"Looking for this?" said Marcus, holding her wand up, "I took it from you when you were blindfolded...women are so stupid, they'll believe anything." The boys on the bed guffawed at the sexist joke.

"Anyways, back to business. _Silencio!_" Rose's hands went to her throat as she tried to scream. _He put something in my drink!_ _How could I be so stupid? Two drinks isn't enough to make me this slow in response..._She thought as she stumbled towards the door, her last feeble chance at escape, but Marcus blocked her way.

"I don't think so," he said with a sneer, "You're not going anywhere until all four of us have had our fun. You think you're so much better than us because you're Gryffindor and you get high marks? Well we see you for what you really are, a whore, and that's what you're going to be tonight, our Gryffindor whore. _Diffindo!_" Rose watched helplessly as her shirt and bra ripped down the centre exposing her breasts. She covered herself, tears falling down her face.

The bigger of the three nameless boys grabbed her from behind and bit her ear, hard. She felt hot blood trickle down her neck. She numbly recognized the boys as the two beaters and one of the chasers from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. One of the other boys ripped the rest of her shirt off of her and used another _Diffindo_ charm to tear her skirt down the middle. As she was pushed onto the bed, Rose did not kick or punch, she simply closed her eyes and emptied her mind.

She didn't understand why, but it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. The forest materialized in her mind and she called to the animal. She was there, waiting for her, a small red fox crept into the opening. _Help me,_ she pleaded to the creature, _please, just find someone who can help me!_ And the fox was gone.

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There was a bright silver light, and the apparition of a fox appeared in a green and silver decorated bed room. It looked about the room, saw that no one was in it and disappeared once more.

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Rose's mouth opened in a silent scream as one of the boys slapped her across the face once more. For the past minutes? Hours? Rose did not know, the boys had taken turns hitting her. She had large bruises and welts on her chest, stomach and face from the beatings she had received from their fists and belts. Suddenly, the hitting stopped, and she looked dazedly up. Marcus, who had been watching the action began to walk towards her, taking off his jeans.

She shook her head violently, tears falling down her face once more making her split lip burn with contact from the salty liquid. Her eyes widened in terror as she saw his erection through his boxers. Had all this violence turned him on?

"Turn her over Jared, I want to do her like the dog she is," The boy named Jared went to force her onto her hands and knees. This was it...she was going to lose her virginity to this beast. Visions of a romantic scene with rose petals and champagne flashed through her head and were smashed to a thousand pieces. _Do you really want to be taken this way Rose?_ Said a mutinous voice at the back of her head.

Filled with sudden resolve, her battered body struggled to not be forced into the embarrassing position.

"Oh she wants to fight does she?" said Marcus, eyes wide with madness, "That's not going to be possible honey, _Imperio!_" he cried.

Rose's anguished mind fell under the curse easily. Sending the fox had taken up the last of her mental power, and she was defenseless. Her eyes glazed over, and she went onto her hands and knees.

"That's right, you half blood bitch, you're going to get it right where you deserve it."

At this moment, the door flew open.

"Stupify!" yelled a male voice, and Marcus fell to the floor, the Imperius curse breaking immediately as he was stunned. The other three boys sent stunning spells at the intruder but they just bounced off of him.

Rose groggily turned onto her back, in too much pain to cover her naked body. She saw one of the boys fly across the room as her saviour knocked him. The other two boys were quickly stunned by the angry wielder of a bright pink umbrella.

"Rose, Rose can yeh hear me? Y'alrigh'?" said a familiar gruff voice near her. She could feel herself passing out and the man wrapped her in the sheets of the bed and lifted her into her arms.

"It's gonna be OK yeh hear? These boys aren' gonna get away with this" said the voice and she fell into blackness.

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Rose's eyes fluttered and found that she was in the hospital wing, surrounded by white curtains for privacy. She looked down to see that she was wearing plain white pyjamas that belonged to the school. She opened the curtains and saw the Headmaster talking to the new nurse at the far end of the room. She was relived to see that no one else was in the room.

"She's not pregnant Headmaster, it seems Hagrid got there just in time. I've healed all of the bruises and broken ribs, but I'm afraid the emotional damage will still take some time to heal." said the nurse in a low voice.

"Yes...to think...at this school...The boys have been expelled and arrested, naturally, and the one boy will be sent straight to Azkaban. When I performed _priori incantatem _on his wand, it would seem he used the Imperius curse." replied Professor Dumas.

"Yes, and I also found traces of a Confusing Draught in her system." said the nurse gravely shaking her head.

Rose didn't want to hear any more...she just...she wanted to be in her own bed...alone. She rose from the bed, and the nurse rushed over to make her sit back down.

"No Mary, let her go if she wishes, I will perform an invisibility charm so she will not be bothered until she is safely in her quarters" said the Professor, his eyes filled with sadness as he gazed upon the girl. Rose gave him a silent look of gratitude, and crept up to her room.

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Scorpius woke, the sun falling directly upon his face. Wondering how his window had suddenly changed positions he looked about himself. He saw that he was on the couch in the common room. He had been waiting in the room...but as he thought about it...he didn't really remember why. To apologize to Rose? To make some sort of sarcastic comment about her date? All Scorpius knew that she must of not returned home and he had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her.

He ran his fingers through his uneven hair and thought about the night before. He had swam for three hours straight, and it had made him feel slightly better. One thing that he had realized during his time spent in the Room of Requirement (which he had turned into an Olympic sized swimming pool) was that the voice at the back of his head was right. All he had ever done was push people away. He had always blamed his parents, saying it was their fault because they had kept him locked up away from other children for so long.

But he now realized that it was himself. He was a coward. In first year, when he had been rejected by Rose because of his name, he had withdrew into his shell and was afraid to ever try and make another friend again. He had focussed himself on his school work instead, and he lived the epic romances that he so desired only in his head through the Harriet Felixa novels that he had began to read in his first year.

Now, he had Rose back in his life. They were becoming closer and closer, but what did he do once more? Push her away. This was why he decided to leave his hair the way it is now. To remind him of how stupid he was.

Suddenly, the door opened to their chambers and Rose entered, an invisibility spell fading. Scorpius realized he had nothing to witty or sarcastic to say to Rose. He was so emotionally drained from the night before that he hadn't thought of what he was going to do when he saw her again. He looked at her, and instantly knew there was something wrong. All thoughts of himself fled his mind as he studied her.

Rose's face was pale and had a sunken quality to it, her hair fell limply on the sides of it, looking dead, but it was her eyes that made him know there was something wrong. They had a faraway look to them, it was as if Rose had suddenly fallen out of the world and had retired into her own skull.

She turned to look at him, and she burst into tears.

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The tears that she had been trying to hold in since she left the hospital suddenly overtook her as she looked into Scorpius' eyes. She fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, coiling into the foetal position, rocking back and forth.

The world as she knew it was crashing down around her. It was her fault, all of it. Why had she let her guard down? How was she supposed to be an auror like her father and uncle if she was so weak? Why was she a Gryffindor? How did she not realize him pouring the potion into her drink? She was suddenly aware of something warm enveloping her body.

She felt herself being lifted from the floor by strong arms, and being carried over to the bathroom. She felt herself being laid on something soft, her bed.

"Rose..." said a soft voice, with a slight tremble to it, "Rose why are you crying? What happened? What's wrong?"

She looked up into Scorpius' face. His eyes were beautiful even through the shroud of tears that inhibited her vision. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to tell him...everything. She saw his hands clench into fists when she spoke of them beating her, but other than that he listened to every word with no emotion showing on his face. When she finished, a heavy silence fell about the room. She stared into his eyes, and they seemed to absorb the pain from her. His eyes filled with tears, as raw emotion filled his gaze.

He unexpectedly leaned forward and took her small frame into his arms. He held her close, so close that she could scarcely breathe, but she didn't care. He didn't say a thing, but he didn't need to. Their bodies were so close she could feel his heart pounding against hers. The rhythms were not the same, but they complimented each other. It was almost as if their souls were joining, becoming one...and then he let her go and looked into her eyes.

His eyes...so many things were in his eyes. Pain, fear, anger, sadness...love? She tried to look away but he guided her chin back to make her face him once more.

"Rose, I want you to forget everything that's happened just for a minute. I want you to forget what's happened to you, and what's happened between us, and just listen to me. I would make this an Unbreakable Vow, but we do not have a bonder, so just grab my hand." he said a little roughly but he clasped her right hand in his tenderly.

Rose almost interrupted him, but decided that whatever was happening was too important to break.

"Rose Weasley, I, Scorpius Malfoy, promise that I will always be there to protect you. I will stop any harm reaching you to the best of my abilities. What this means–most importantly–is that I will always be your friend, and I will never push you away again, no matter what our family names are." he said solemnly, and tapped their clasped hands with his wand. A fiery rope shot out and wrapped around their hands to Scorpius' surprise. They had no bonder...why was the vow working?

"And I, Rose Weasley, will also always be your friend no matter what happens." she said and tapped their hands with her wand as well. A green fiery rope came from it intertwining with the red one that was already around their hands.

"I don't know what this is," said Scorpius, "but it must be fate."

Without warning, Rose fell to the floor clutching her head in pain, the ropes breaking. She looked up a Scorpius, tears in her eyes.

Her memories had returned.

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A/N: wow...that became way longer than it was supposed to be! Argh it's like 11 pages of death...my head hurts haha...that's why it took so long to write though :S What a depressing chapter...sheesh...that's also why it took so long...so emotionally wrenching . anyways...the next chapter may be emotional too, but don't worry because I promise that after that it'll be funny again yaaaaay...

Btw...thanks so much for adding me to your favourite stories/author alerts list...I keep getting them in my e-mail boxes and it makes me so happy...but you know what makes me more happy? Reviews! If you really love my story, tell me why! I really want to know. It helps me grow as an author you know? Anyways...PLEASE PLEASE review! Tell me! Did you like the new chapter? Do you like the way the story's going? See...in this one review someone asked for stuff between Draco and his wife...and I wrote it!...sorry for the rant

thanks for reading!

Tenchi Moete


	8. Atonement and Exchanges

1Chapter Seven: Atonement

"Rose...Rose are you alright? Please speak to me" Scorpius had lifted her from the ground and was now shaking her gently. There seemed to be some sort of pain to her head–which was what had initially made her fall to the floor–but now she seemed to be falling unconscious, her eyes rolling backwards into her skull. Scorpius clutched Rose to his chest, and stroked her thick hair. He took her pulse and checked her breathing, which both seemed to be normal.

Scorpius desperately wished that he was already a healer, because he had no idea what to do. Him and Rose were friends again...and that meant everything in the world to Scorpius. Despite the fact that Rose had fallen unconscious for an unknown reason, he felt inextricably calm. It was as if...a strange weight had been lifted from his shoulders that he didn't even know was there. He was there for Rose now, and he would never let her go.

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Pain. Searing Pain. Searing Pain in the Head, and suddenly, it was gone. But, what was left in its place was much, much more devastating. She remembered it all. Their time on the train, the long hours spent laughing together, and...the omission of his father's name. The meeting that never happened replayed through her head and her cousin's voice echoed through her head... "He just wants to hurt you..."

Rose looked up to see Scorpius' concerned face above her own, and it was just too much for her. She had...she had to get away and think.

"Scorpius...I..." was all she could get out before sprinting out of the doors to their common quarters.

She ran on auto pilot not caring where she ended up. She ran until it was physically taxing, and then she slowed to a jog. When she started walking at a normal pace, she realized she had brought herself to the most familiar place to her...the Library.

She muttered the prefect's after hours password and entered the hardwood doors. The smell of dusty tomes filled her nostrils which caused an instant sedation to occur. As she brushed her hand across the rows of books while she walked past them, thousands of images flooded into her mind.

She reviewed hours spent in this high-ceilinged room...studying magic and avoiding bullies. She sat at one of the windows at the end of one of her favourite book stacks. She took out her wand, performed a calming charm on herself and thought.

We were friends...he concealed his identity...he treated her badly...the meeting that never happened...their rekindling of friendship...her feelings for him...her headaches...the bond...

Everything was so confusing...Rose thought about it all late into the night, never coming to a conclusion.

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The clock turned to 03:00 and Scorpius realized that she wasn't going to come back tonight. He would give her some space. Obviously the whole ordeal had shaken her mentally and physically. He would be polite and supportive until she was ready to open up to him once more.

The events of the night had caused him a strange inability to sleep, yet a cloud of calmness hazed throughout his soul. As a habit, he found the forest in his mind. He saw the clearing...and there, sitting in it, licking his paws, was a small white tiger.

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Rose woke with a start...which was understandable as she now found herself hanging upside down in the air.

"Well good morning Roooooooosie" said a leering upside-down version of Amelia Hikui, "did you sleep well with your best friends?"

"Ooooo" said another girl in the group, "I bet she was making out with all her _favourite _books _all_ night."

"Yah," said Amelia holding up Rose's wand, "cuz we all know that's the only way she's _ever_ gonna get _snogged_."

The group giggled and looked up at Rose as if she were some sort of circus act.

"Come on Ammy! Make her pay!" said Belinda Lindsey, "My cousin was expelled last night and she was the last person seen with him!"

"If anyone's going to be paying Belinda, it's going to be all of you. Amelia, put her down. Now." said a familiar voice from the end of the book stack. Gretchen Neilson was there, standing resolute with her arms crossed.

"Well...w-what if I don't want to?" balked Amelia, obviously surprised by the sudden turn of events, "Wouldn't you want us to be doing this...?"

"What you are doing is childish and stupid. Put the girl down." Said Gretchen in a stony voice. "Are you a Hufflepuff or not? Show some loyalty!"

At this, Amelia let Rose down gently to the floor. Rose tilted her pounding head backwards, trying to reverse the blood that had fell down to her head. When she looked up again all the girls were gone, except for Gretchen who was holding out a hand to help her up. Rose narrowed her eyes and did not accept the hand.

"Why did you do that? Why should I trust you with anything?" said Rose icily, looking away from Gretchen's honest-looking grey eyes.

"I...need you to hear me out...I don't expect that whatever I tell you will help with what has happened to you, or make you forgive me in away way, but I must atone with my sins. Will you listen to what I have to say?" Said Gretchen with a slight shake to her usually strong soprano.

"As a Gryffindor–and a decent human being–I am bound to at least to listen to what you have to say...but if you say anything I don't like, I will leave. Know that I will not take your abuse any longer." replied Rose.

"I understand." said Gretchen resolutely, "Now let me tell you everything."

"I'm sorry about the way I've treated you all these years...it would seem that insecure people only truly make themselves feel better by putting others down...and I am very insecure. The truth is...I've been jealous of you ever since we were children. You're beautiful...you're intelligent...you're independent...in short you're everything I wish I was. This year when you got to room with Scorpius...something inside of me snapped. All these years of bitter emotions welling inside of me erupted into a passionate hate that I had never truly felt before. Scorpius has always had a special place in my heart. His looks...his demeanor...something about him makes me go crazy. When I saw you getting closer to him...I just couldn't stand it. This caused me to do a terrible thing.

"I'm the one who got Marcus to go after you. I told him to take advantage of you...and hurt you to make you pay..."

"You what!" exclaimed Rose suddenly, fire entering her gaze, searing a hole into Gretchen.

"I...I...got him to...look please let me finish. This is really hard for me." said Gretchen, and Rose calmed seeing tears start to form at the corners of her eyes.

"So you wanted Scorpius? Why did you need to hurt me? You got with him anyways didn't you?" asked Rose.

"In fact...no I did not. He came to _me_ that one night angry about something. He brought me back to his chambers and stripped me of my clothes. As we were just about to begin, he stopped and said that he couldn't do it out of revenge of another. He said if we dated for a bit he would consider it. I told him that I guess I would make a special case for him...and he became very angry. He said he would not be used by me and called me a whore. Since I couldn't go back to my room, he let me sleep on the floor of his room...and it was there that I regained my memories.

"...have you ever heard of _Teenage witch selective amnesia disorder_...or TWSAD?"

"Umm...actually...yes" said Rose in surprise

"Well...it would seem that my desire, my idol, Scorpius calling me a whore caused memories from the summer of my first year to come back to me. I'm not a bad person really...but him calling me a whore...showed me for what I was. I used boys, I use my friends and I insult everyone around me...it was all because of a certain incident..." A tear fell down Gretchen's face causing a streak of foundation to form in its wake.

"Look Gretchen...you don't have to tell me all of this...you're really upset...I..." said Rose feeling uneasy having seen the usually haughty Gretchen show any human emotion.

"No! Rose...I don't know why, but I feel I need to tell you this. I've always admired you...just...I don't know why but I thought you would understand..." said Gretchen as more tears slid down her cheeks.

"Alright...tell me Gretchen, I will listen." said Rose in return, "just try and relax."

"When I was 11 years old...I was abused sexually by our next door neighbour. He would put the Imperius charm on me...and make me do horrible things with him...I was under his control for two months...I would go over to his house every day at the same time...he told my mother I was getting piano lessons from him...he controlled me...all the time...he would take pictures when his friends would come over...and..and..." Gretchen's eyes glazed over with the horror of her past.

"One day I finally escaped from his spell...I told my mother who contacted the aurors...he was taken away...and my memories disappeared. We moved to a different town right away...and then I started school. My mother never mentioned it...and I have no Father so...it just disappeared. But...I changed in personality. I became very angry...and spiteful. I had an issue with control. I had this obsession with controlling other people, especially boys. I know now that it was because...because...I never wanted to be controlled by someone ever...again..." Gretchen broke down into sobs, her body shaking with them.

Without knowing why, Rose found herself holding the other girl, stroking her hair...comforting her. Gretchen rocked back and forth and continued to speak when the worst of the sobs subsided.

"This all...came back to me in a flash that night. I took shower after shower that night...trying to become clean...I felt...tainted...dirty...then you came in. I saw how he felt for you...cared for you. In that moment...I wanted to make right all the pain I had caused everyone in 6 years...I wanted most in the world for you and Scorpius to be happy together. It was then that I returned to my room and told Marcus to stop what he was doing. It would seem...that he wasn't under my control as I had thought. Control...is an illusion...a facade for the weak. He had been waiting all along to show his true colours...to do something truly evil. He told me that he was going to continue with his plan to rape you that night.

"I was going to kill myself...I felt horrible. My last chance of redemption had failed...I lay in my bed all day sobbing. At night, I drew up some courage and I went out to the Forbidden Forest...hoping that a wild beast of some kind would find me and tear me apart to ease my suffering...but there, on the edge of the woods...was Hagrid's Hut. It was a beacon of hope...a lighthouse welcoming me back from the sea of despair I was drowning in...I pounded on his door...I told Hagrid what Marcus was going to do to you...I didn't know where he was but I told Hagrid to check the Hotels in town...I went straight to Professor Dumas' office afterwards and told him the same. He contacted Hagrid somehow and told him that you were in the Hog's Head...and then I waited. I sat outside the Hospital Wing for hours...and when you were finally carried past me...I breathed a sigh of relief. You were safe, and I was told that Hagrid had found you in the nick of time.

"So you see...I'm not looking for a Thank You...what I've done to you in the past doesn't equate to these recent actions...I just wanted you to know that...I...I've always admired you...and...I want to be your friend. I know that you'll most likely say no but..."

"Gretchen. Thank you...you saved my life. I always knew you weren't a bad person really...I knew somehow that you were hurt somehow...I've actually had a recent encounter with unpleasant forgotten memories and...I understand what it's like. I admire your bravery...and I accept your offer of friendship." said Rose, who too now was crying.

As the Bell rang, the two girls held each other, not in penance, but in silent reconciliation.

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For the next few weeks, the weather became colder in direct proportion to Rose's disposition. She behaved extremely formal in the presence of Scorpius, and they conversed as if they were Book Club members. All topics remained censored to school work and Scorpius hated it. He missed her...he missed their animated discussions over Potions' theory...he missed giving her massages...but most of all he was dying to tell her about the new development in his Animagus practicing.

One particularly snowy November morning, Scorpius was getting ready for class and found that he could not find his favourite green Towel. He glanced over at Rose, who was getting in some extra reading, and thought he would chance asking her,

"Hey Rose, have you seen my Slytherin towel?"

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!" she bellowed, her eyes furious.

Scorpius' eyes widened as he backed away from the she-dragon.

"W-what..?" he asked timidly, in a much higher vocal register than usual.

"You...you...you were my friend! We were...we were supposed to meet and...oh bollocks!" she cursed as she wiped tears from her face.

Suddenly...it all became clear to Scorpius...she was choosing now to discuss the past. The one discussion that Scorpius had been dreading since they had finally become friends had finally begun. Why it had to be _now_ he did not understand but...

"Do...we have to do this now? We have class in 20 minutes..." said Scorpius, trying to avoid the imminent row of ultimate doom.

"YES. I–WANT– TO– TALK– ABOUT– IT– NOW!" she shrieked between sobs, walking towards Scorpius and poking him in the chest after every ear-splitting syllable "You know...you were my friend! *jab* You lied to me! *jab* Your father's name! *jab* The meeting...I never trusted another boy ever again...I could never make any friends...I didn't know why...it was YOU!"

"What and you don't think that I didn't suffer from it too? The meeting never happened because you couldn't look past my last name! I was in the entrance hall...your cousin told me everything! I could never forget those words... 'Rose does not want to know you. She wants nothing to do with your kind. In fact she hates you because you're a Slytherin. She knows about your stuffy, mean, pureblood, death eater family and she knows what your father did to her parents. She's not coming to see you, if that's what you're waiting for. So don't waste anymore precious moments you could be spending insulting muggle-borns in your dungeon.'" recited Scorpius from memory, looking away from Rose's face.

"W-what? That's not what happened...I showed up right on time and waited for a half an hour...and you didn't show. What are you talking about?" trilled Rose, voice continuing to be closer and closer to the stratosphere.

"I was early...your brother came and told me those things and...and...I left. I left before giving you a chance to tell me yourself and I'm sorry," said Scorpius as he gently tilted her chin upwards to look into the two pools of dark chocolate that were her eyes, "I'm so sorry that I hurt you." Rose's eyes narrowed until they were only slits.

"...I am going to KILL my cousin! Ooooo he's going to get it so bad...he'll wish that he was wearing his bottom as a bonnet when I'm finished with the bugger!" she yelled unexpectedly. At this, Scorpius burst into a gale of laughter that caused him to double over with mirth. Once he could regain his breath he looked up at Rose's red face and he continued to laugh some more.

"What is _wrong_ with you? Do you realize that we were discussing how we ruined each other's adolescent lives...and you're just laughing? Are you bonkers?" asked Rose incredulously.

"Now THIS is the Rose that I want!" said Scorpius between remaining chuckles, clapping a hand to his knee, "_Please_ let this be the end to 'Oh Mr. Malfoy will you pass me my textbook' bollocks!"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Rose angrily, but the edge was beginning to erase from her tone.

"What I _mean_," said Scorpius, poking her in the shoulder and moving so close to Rose now that he could count every eyelash, "is that this is what I _missed_ *jab* This is what I _love_ *jab* about you. The screaming, *jab* the yelling, *jab* the cursing *jab* in short...your unbridled...passion for...just about everything." sensing that it was safe, Scorpius put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes once more.

"That's why...I love you so much...just the way you are..." he said fondly as he leaned in to her.

"Scorpius I...I..." said Rose, her breath tickling his face which was mere inches from hers now...her eyes sparkled with the tears that she shed but it only made her more beautiful...her lips were there...inviting him to take them...

BRRRRRRRRRRING

The Breakfast bell rang, causing both head students to jump apart as if electrified.

"I'm glad that we've had this talk," said Rose, finishing her sentence and extending her hand, "I'm glad that we can be friends again."

"As am I." said Scorpius seriously, taking her hand and shaking it, trying to hide a snort of laughter, "Here we are again with the bloody formality haha!"

"...Do you really actually still love Harriet L. Felixa novels?" asked Rose timidly.

"...ummm yes." said Scorpius, a flush creeping onto his alabaster face.

"Oh Scorpius, we're really going to be best mates!" she said embracing him chastedly, "But we should really get to class! What an example we're making! The head boy and girl late for breakfast...now really!" said Rose as if scandalized by her own behaviour.

As she hurried through the doors of her bedroom to grab her books, Scorpius smiled to himself. He was glad that everything was back to normal...well about as normal as things could be at Hogwarts.

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Rose hurried to her seat in the Great Hall, and was relieved to see that no food was present on the tables as of yet. Just as she sat down, Professor Dumas rose to his feet to make a speech.

"Good morning young magical students! How many of you would rather be eating than listening to me!" said the Professor animately, only a few students were brave enough to raise their hands, "No need to be shy! How many of you would rather be making snowmen than be in class!" at this several more hands were raised into the air.

"That's the spirit! In my native country of Canada...a day like day would have been declared a "snow day" and everyone wouldn't have class because it would be too hard to get to the school...good thing we all live in the building! Class schedule will resume as if it were any other day!"

"Seriously does he ever have a point to anything he says...?" whispered a 2nd year to Rose's right whom she promptly shushed.

"Now to the point of this interruption!" continued Dumas as if there were no angry whispers coming from the students, "this year, the Ministry of Magical Co-operation is pleased to announce a brand new _exchange program_ being implemented between the schools of Durmstrang and Hogwarts!" with those words, the angry whispers changed to those of excitement...as if by magic or something...

"This year, 5 students in 7th year of Durmstrang will be staying until June, and for next year future 7th years can apply to study over there as well! Let me introduce to you, our five exchange students: Alexandru Balan, Cosmina Sabau, Dragos Valsan, Iolanda Albu, and Andrei Krum."

As Professor Dumas finished his list of names, five teenagers entered the Hall dressed in various furred cloaks. All of them were very striking looking, but all eyes went to the last boy at the end of the line.

He was powerfully built, with a distinctive hooked nose and curiously yellow-coloured hawklike eyes. As he walked past the Gryffindor table to the front of the room, he looked directly at Rose and her insides melted from the intense sensuality of his stare.

"I'm sure that Hogwarts will give them the greatest hospitality." spoke Dumas in conclusion.

"I'd like to give them more than that!" spoke a 5th year girl.

"Indeed...there seems to be a seat reserved for a Cosmina on the ALBUS!"

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Author's note: wow...talk about verbal diarrhea! I mean...I had writer's block for so long...and then in the past 12 hours I spewed out 8 pages...hope you liked the chapter...

Please let me know what you think!

Reviews with your comments and suggestions really helped me get out of my non-writing slum...thanks so much!

Tenchi

PS for you non french-speaking ppl...Dumas is pronounced Due-mah...not dumbass :P


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